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CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED ON THE 



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OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE 



Baptist Church, Haverhill, Mass. 



ON THE NINTH OF MAY, 1865. 



ARTHUR SAVAQE TRAIN. 



WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE 



CE^TEN^IAL CELEBRATION, 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



BOSTON: 

GOULD AND LINCOLN, 

59 WASHINGTON STREET. 

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CamtriUgc 13rrss. 
Dakin and Metcalk. 



64 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Haverhill, May 12th, 1865. 
Rev. A. S. Train: 

Dear Sir, — At the regular meeting of the First Baptist Church in 
Haverhill, held the 11th inst., the undersigned were appointed a Committee 
to present to you the thanks of the Church for your able and interesting 
Historical Discourse, delivered at the late celebration of its One Hundredth 
Anniversary, on the 9th inst., and to request you to furnish a copy for 
publication. 

In performing this duty, we express our personal gratification, and our 
desire that you will comply with the unanimous request of the Church. 
Very respectfully and truly your friends, 

AUGUSTUS H. STRONG, 
JAMES H. DUNCAN, 
GEO. APPLETON, 
JOHN KEELY, 
MOSES D. GEORGE, 
WILLIAM SMILEY, 
GEO. A KIMBALL, 
LEONARD WHITTIER, 
W. R. WHITTIER, 
JAMES D. WHITE. 



Newton Centre, May 31st, 1865. 
Gentlemen : 

Yours of the 12th inst., expressing the thanks of the Church for the dis- 
course delivered at your recent Centennial, and their unanimous request 
that a copy may be furnished for publication, was received on my returning 
home this evening. 

It is well known to you that I have invariably declined all invitations to 



iv CORRESPONDENCE. 

print my discourses, and that I have done this from no unkindness or 
caprice, but from deliberate conviction. The present instance, however, is 
quite exceptional. 

I shall never deliver another Centennial Address on the one hundredth 
anniversary of the organization of the only church of which I ever was the 
pastor, to which I was permitted to minister for nearly a quarter of the 
century, and by which my humble services were received with so large a 
measure of the kindest consideration. 

The address was prepared and delivered with unfeigned reluctance, 
regarding it, as I did, as one of the most delicate and difficult duties I 
had ever attempted to perform. 

Grateful as I am for the satisfaction and pleasure with which it was 
received, I do not feel at liberty to withhold it from the press. It is there- 
fore submitted for publication. 

Very truly yours, 

ARTHUR S. TRAIN. 
To the Rev. A. H. Strong, 
Messrs. J. II. Duncan, 

Geo. ArrLETON, and others. 



X 



<&txdmnml Mxttmm. 



Cejsttenktal Discourse. 



"The 9th of May, 1765, we whose names are first 
affixed to the covenant which is here inserted, after 
solemn fasting and prayer, mutually agreed to walk 
in gospel order together, having been before bap- 
tized by immersion, but not joined to any church." 
These are the first words in the records of this 
church. They are in the handwriting of Hezekiah 
Smith, its first Clerk, one hundred years ago. 
Under the same date, May 9th, 1765, Mr. Smith 
made the following entry in his private journal : 
" We kept a day of Fasting and Prayer at Mr. 
Greenleaf 's, and those who had been baptized formed 
themselves into a body, and covenanted to walk 
in gospel order, and chose Jacob Whittier to be 
their Deacon." 

This is the modest transaction which has sounded 
through the century and summoned us here to-day. 
Less than thirteen months before, on the 13th of 
April, 1764, Mr. Smith had for the first time 
visited New England. A native of Long Island, 
he had been by the removal of his parents early 



8 DISCOURSE. 

taken to New Jersey, and was educated at the 
college in Princeton, during the presidency of Sam- 
uel Davies. In college he formed a very intimate 
friendship with his classmate, James Manning, and 
it was this friendship which first led him to New 
England. 

President Davies has been justly regarded as the 
prince of American preachers. In all that consti- 
tutes true eloquence in the pulpit, he had few 
equals, and no superiors. It was to him that Pat- 
rick Henry was indebted for the model and the 
inspiration of his eloquence. And it was equally 
to him that James Manning and Hezekiah Smith 
were indebted for the model and inspiration of 
that popular and effective oratory which gave them 
their preeminence among the preachers of that 
epoch. They were graduated at Princeton in 1762, 
Mr. Manning taking the second honor in his class. 
In the autumn of that year, the Philadelphia Bap- 
tist Association had determined to establish a col- 
lege for the education of the ministry. Various 
considerations "brought them to an apprehension 
that it was practicable and expedient to erect the 
college in Rhode Island Government," and "they 
fixed their eyes upon" Mr. Manning "as a proper 
leader in the affair." Accordingly, in the early 
summer of 1763, Mr. Manning, with his friend Rev. 
John Sutton, visited Newport, R. I., and "made 
a motion to several gentlemen of the Baptist 



DISCOURSE. 9 

denomination, relative to a seminary of polite liter- 
ature, subject to the government of the Baptists." 
It was not, however, until the month of February, 
1764, and after not a little secret as well open 
opposition, that a charter was granted by the 
General Assembly, and it was determined that Mr. 
Manning should remove his family to Rhode Island 
and commence the college. Accordingly, in Mr. 
Smith's private journal, under date of the 11th of 
April, 1764, we read, " With Mr. Manning and his 
wife embarked for Newport, R. I., with Captain 
Stephen Wanton, and we arrived to Newport on 
Friday the 31st." Proceeding at once to Warren, 
which had been selected as the seat of the college 
and the residence • of Mr. Manning, Mr. Smith 
paused for a few weeks in the new home of his 
friend and classmate, and then turned his attention 
to the accomplishment of the purpose of his visit 
to New England. 

At that time there was much in the aspect of 
religion in these colonies to interest a man of the 
tastes and purposes and character of Mr. Smith. 
The violent controversies, which arose in connection 
with the great awakening and the first visits of 
Whitefield to New England, had very much sub- 
sided. The separatist movement was established. 
Many of the friends of the revivals and of "lowly 
preaching " — that is the preaching of uneducated 
ministers — had found themselves obliged to with- 



10 DISCOURSE. 

draw from the established churches and establish 
others of their own. Some, however, of the churches 
and pastors of the standing order were friendly to 
the earnest piety which the great awakening had 
developed, and were ready to welcome Whitefield 
or any other minister who would come among 
them for similar purposes and in a kindred spirit. 
Mr. Smith was a great admirer of Whitefield, and 
five years later, on a visit to Georgia, counted it 
a happiness and an honor to have the opportunity 
to become personally acquainted with that distin- 
guished preacher. In 1762-63 he had travelled 
through the States on the Atlantic coast from New 
Jersey to Georgia, preaching constantly in the 
week time as well as on the Sabbath. Having 
seen his friend Manning established in his new 
home in Rhode Island, he proposed to extend his 
travels to the northward and eastward, and visit 
the scenes of the labors of Whitefield and the great 
awakening. 

He is now twenty-seven years of age, — tall, finely 
formed, with an open, winning countenance, pleas- 
ing manners, and of very superior talents as a 
public speaker. His voice especially was one o. 
rare sweetness and compass, combined with a powei 
that was wonderful. Travelling leisurely on horse- 
back, he preached in the principal towns and vil- 
lages in the northern part of Rhode Island, and 
the section of Massachusetts which lay in his route 



DISCOURSE. 11 

to Boston. If his journal is to be accepted as 
authority, in almost every village he received a 
cordial welcome, and whenever he preached, crowds 
of eager listeners hung upon his words. 

Messrs. Stillman and Freeman went as far as Med- 
field, some twenty miles from Boston, to meet him 
and escort him to that city, where he arrived on 
the 7th of June, 1764, and took lodgings with 
Mr. Stillman, whom he "found to be very agree- 
able and engaged for God." He remained in Bos- 
ton until the 6th of July, preaching constantly to 
large congregations, with great popularity and 
power. Leaving Boston, he went through Charles- 
town, Lynn, Salem, and Beverly to Chebacco, 
then a parish in the town of Ipswich, where he 
preached for the first time in the Rev. Mr. Cleave- 
land's meeting-house, on the Sabbath, the 8th of 
July. 

That parish had been the scene of one of the 
bitter contentions incident to the great awaken- 
ing ; and although the " Chebacco controversy," as 
it was called, had subsided, the community was in a 
condition to give an enthusiastic welcome to such a 
preacher as Mr. Smith. In Chebacco and Ipswich he 
preached two Sabbaths and every day in the inter- 
vening week, his hearers crowding the places of 
worship, and in several instances filling the very 
pulpits in which he stood. On Monday, July 16th, 
1764, he writes, "I preached a farewell sermon in 



12 DISCOURSE. 

Mr. Cleaveland's pulpit in Chebacco; after sermon 
the pulpit was soon filled with men and women, 
as it was on the Lord's day. They seemed much en- 
gaged in talk with me, while others in the congre- 
gation were, some rejoicing in the love of God, and 
others crying out under a sense of their lost con- 
dition." 

The following Friday we find him at Newbury, 
concerning which he writes: "In the evening I afc- 
tended a private meeting as they called it, where it 
was supposed there were the best part of a thousand 
people attended." On the following Sabbath, July 
22d, 1764, the record is, "I preached in the Rev. Mr. 
Parsons' meeting-house in Newbury, as it was sup- 
posed to about four thousand people." — This was 
Newbury Byfield, as it was called. The population 
of Newbury Old Town, West Newbury, and New- 
buryport at that time was about 5,800. In this popu- 
lation there were five ministers and churches besides 
the one in Byfield. If, in addition to the attendants 
at all these other churches, there were three thousand 
present to hear Mr. Smith, his preaching must have 
made an impression in the community second only 
to that of Whitefield. 

On the succeeding Friday, July 27th, 1764, the 
journal says: "I went with Mr. Tingley to Haverhill, 
and preached for him in the afternoon in the West 
Parish." That night he lodged at Peter Carleton's 
in the West Parish, and the next day returned to 



DISCOURSE. 13 

Ipswich. This Mr. Carle ton, in whose hospitable 
dwelling Mr. Smith spent his first night in Haverhill, 
was one of the substantial and prominent citizens of 
the West Parish. His beautiful farm is now owned 
and occupied by his grandson, Mr. John Carleton, well 
known and esteemed among you. That first sermon 
of Mr. Smith in Haverhill on that Friday afternoon 
made a deep impression, and he is persuaded to preach 
again in the West Parish on Monday, the 15th of 
August. The next week, on Thursday, he preaches 
in New Salem, where he encounters violent op- 
position. On that day his record is, " Although 
some of the opposers declared that there should be 
blood shed if I went into the pulpit, I went with no 
molestation." The following Tuesday, the 28th of 
August, 1764, he lodges for the first time in this 
village, or as it was then called, in " Haverhill town," 
in the family of John White, well known in your 
local annals as "Merchant White." 

The Rev. Mr. Barnard was then pastor of the 
church in this village. He was a worthy gentleman, 
a scholar and a Christian, but he was not friendly 
to Whitefield or the revivals of the time. The church 
in the West Parish was without a pastor. During 
the summer and early autumn of 1764, therefore, 
the preaching of Mr. Smith in Haverhill was chiefly 
in the West Parish. A great religious interest was 
presently awakened in all parts of the town. When 
it was known that he was to pass a night in this 



14 DISCOURSE. 

village, the people flocked to his lodgings to the 
evening worship which he conducted in the family. 
On such occasions he was accustomed to give an 
exhortation. On Monday, the 15th October, 1764, 
he writes, "This evening, at Esq. White's, and when 
attended family duty, I spake to the people who 
assembled, I suppose three or four hundred." This 
was Samuel White, Esquire, whose house then stood 
on a slight eminence on the north-west corner of 
Main and Merrimack streets, the site at present oc- 
cupied by the Post-Office, and which has long been 
familiarly known as White's Corner. The popula- 
tion of the whole town of Haverhill on that 15th of 
October was nineteen hundred and twenty, of which 
less than one-half resided in this village. What must 
have been the state of religious feeling which in- 
duced three or four hundred of a population of less 
than a thousand persons to flock to a private house 
to be present at the evening worship of the family ? 
On Monday, the 22d of October, Mr. Smith 
started on a journey to visit his relatives in New 
Jersey. Several of the prominent citizens in " Haver- 
hill town " had determined to make an effort to secure 
his services as a permanent minister among them, 
and he had promised to return. Accordingly they 
proceeded to prepare a place of worship which Mr. 
Smith subsequently calls "the meeting-house under 
Mr. Colby's roof," and which was the place of wor- 
ship for this congregation until they entered the 



DISCOURSE. 15 

meeting-house erected upon this spot during the 
next summer. It is a singular circumstance that 
no one can tell to-day who this Mr. Colby was, 
or where his house was situated* 

Early in December Mr. Smith returned to Haver- 
hill, bringing with him his friend Mr. Manning ; and 
on the 6th of that month his record is, " Lodged 
at John White's with Mr. Manning." Dec. 13th he 
writes, "I went home — my home was Mr. Ayers." 
This is supposed to have been Mr. Simon Ayers, 
another of the solid men of the West Parish, and 
a lifelong and devoted friend of Mr. Smith. His 
residence was beautifully situated on the southwest- 
erly slope of Silver's hill. The estate is at present 
occupied by Mrs. James Day, a member of this 

church. 

That was a memorable week. It was devoted by 
Manning and Smith to a careful consideration of the 
condition and prospects of vital religion in this town 
and its vicinity, and it led to the determination on 
the part of Mr. Smith to make "Haverhill town" 
his home for the present, and the centre of his 
operations. As the result of that week's delibera- 
tions with his friend Manning, in his own expres- 
sive phrase, Mr. Smith "went home,"— took up 
his residence as a minister in Haverhill. 

* It is supposed that this Mr. Colby's residence was on Water street, at the corner 
of what is now known as Stage street, - on the estate for many years owned and oc- 
cupied by Col. John Woodman. 



16 DISCOURSE. 

The new meeting-house "under Mr. Colby's roof" 
is soon in readiness. Dec. 30th, 1764, the record 
is, " I gave an exhortation in the new meeting- 
house," and on the 1st of January, 1765, " I 
preached in the new meeting-house which was pre- 
pared for me to preach in. I make no doubt but 
it was blessed to some." " That evening, went to Mr. 
Duncan's where several friends met and agreed that 
night to begin a private society or meeting." That 
was James Duncan, the grandfather of the present 
James H. Duncan. On that night, in his own house, 
James Duncan was one of the most zealous found- 
ers of this society, and for more than half a cen- 
tury was one of its most liberal supporters and 
truest friends. During all that period he was among 
the foremost Christian citizens in the town. He 
must be still remembered by some among you, sur- 
viving as he did until 1818, and attaining the 
venerable age of ninety-two. In early life he was 
a member of the Presbyterian Church in London- 
derry, but he never became a communicant in this 
church, although a constant worshipper with them 
for more than fifty years. His house, at which the 
friends met on the evening of that first day of Jan- 
uary, 1765, and agreed to begin a Baptist meet- 
ing, was taken down but a few years ago to make 
room for Currier's Block on Main street, which now 
occupies its place. 

On the 24th of February, 1765, Mr. Smith took 



DISCOURSE. 17 

leave of the West Parish, and on the 20th of March 
removed his residence from Simon Ayers' to Mrs. 
White's in "Haverhill town," which, he adds, "for 
the future I shall call my home." On Saturday, the 
13th of April, his record is, " I preached a sermon, 
and after sermon I baptized eight persons in Mer- 
rimack river before Mr. Greenleaf's door. It was a 
very solemn time, and although there was a great 
number at the water side, yet they behaved ex- 
ceeding well, and after they were baptized they 
were exceeding lively." That was Mr. William 
Greenleaf, in whose house this church was subse- 
quently organized. That house, afterwards occupied 
as a tavern by his son, Capt. Greenleaf, stood on 
the north side of Merrimac street, a short distance 
from the Corner, on the lot now occupied by 
Chase's Block. At that time there were no build- 
ings on the opposite side of the street, and it was 
five-and-twenty years after, before a bridge over the 
Merrimack was seriously thought of. Before Mr. 
Greenleaf's door, therefore, where now stands the 
Essex Block, was the open bank and margin of the 
river, — an admirable font for the ordinance of bap- 
tism. 

On the following Thursday, April 18th, 1765, Mr. 
Smith baptizes eight persons more, and writes, " I 
suppose there might be the best part of two thousand 
people present ; " and this was on a week day, and 
when the whole population of the township was but 



18 DISCOURSE. 

nineteen hundred and twenty. The next week on 
Friday, five persons more receive the ordinance of 
baptism ; but the mind of the minister is beginning to 
be troubled. He says : " I never, as I remember, since 
I came into these parts have had my mind more 
seriously exercised on account of reproaches than the 
week past. Christians from one quarter and another 
opj)ose so much that I am weary of it. But what 
came from Mr. Little of Newbury, by John White, 
hurt me the most of any of them all. By threaten- 
ing that none of their ministers would come near us, 
and that although before, they determined to have me 
among them, now they could not desire to see me at 
Newbury." From this date the opposition of all con- 
nected with the established churches, of the friends as 
well as the opponents of Whitefield and the great 
awakening, seems to have been vigorous and decided. 
The organization of a church, that should be Congre- 
gational in fact as well as in name, had become a 
necessity and duty. Accordingly, on the 9th of May, — 
this day one hundred years ago, — Mr. Smith and the 
little company of twenty-three disciples which he had 
gathered, after solemn fasting and prayer, covenanted 
together to walk in the order of the gospel, and organ- 
ized themselves as the First Baptized Congregational 
Church in this section of New England. 

On the following Monday, May 13th, Mr. Smith and 
William Greenleaf "set out for Warren and Middleboro' 
to obtain certificates from the Baptist churches and 



DISCOURSE. 19 

pastors in those places, acknowledging the church in 
Haverhill to be one of the Baptist congregations." 
They also obtained certificates from the pastors of the 
two Baptist churches in Boston. All this was done in 
obedience to the " Law of the Province," which re- 
quired " the approbation of three of their churches to 
a church before they could be clear from ministerial 
taxes to the other denominations." 

Meanwhile the religious interest in the community 
continues. The place of worship under Mr. Colby's 
roof is wholly inadequate to the necessities of the 
congregation. June 2d, Mr. Smith's journal says: "I 
was obliged, as I had been a number of times before, 
to preach out of the house, there being such a crowd 
of people that could not get in." On the 5th of June 
the people began to raise the meeting-house upon this 
spot, in which Mr. Smith was to preach for the thirty- 
nine years and six months of life which were then 
before him. On the 9th of June he writes : " I heard 
Mr. Manning preach in my meeting-house frame in the 
afternoon, where I preached in the forenoon." During 
the year, Rev. John Gano, of New York, and Rev. 
Samuel Jones, of Philadelphia, also visited Haverhill, 
preached in the new meeting-house and in some of 
the private houses of the people. 

As the new church gained strength and character, 
the opposition of the standing order became none the 
less unyielding or uncharitable. Mr. Smith heard him- 
self and his associates denounced in terms which he 



20 DISCOURSE. 

recorded in his journal, but which might better be 
buried in oblivion, as wholly unfit ever to be spoken 
by Christian lips. Nor is it surprising that some sharp- 
ness of criticism was developed upon both sides. On 
the 13th of June, 1765, Mr. Smith writes : " I went to 
the Fast kept at Bradford and heard Mr. Flagg and 
Mr. Tucker preach, and in my opinion souls are to be 
pitied who sit under such preaching. Then went 
home, and something expected to have more stones 
thrown into my chamber that night, after the ministers 
had reflected so much upon myself and the people 
who had separated from them. The night before, they 
threw one stone through the glass into my chamber 
soon after I went to bed." And this was in the 
very place where, eight months before, three or four 
hundred people had assembled to hear the prayer and 
exhortation offered by Mr. Smith at the evening 
worship of the family. On the 10th of July he 
writes : " Went to Newbury to Mr. Ward's ordination. 
Mr. Cleaveland and Mr. Lasley ordained him in the 
alley of Mr. Parsons' meeting-house. I was not in- 
vited to dine with the ministers, neither did I speak 
with one of them." Yet this was Mr. Cleaveland who 
had given Mr. Smith such a cordial welcome at Che- 
bacco, and for whom he had preached with such evi- 
dent tokens of the divine favor; and this was Mr. 
Parsons' meeting-house, in which Mr. Smith had 
preached, to about four thousand people as it was 
supposed, less than a twelve-month before. Such is 



DISCOURSE. 21 

the fickleness of popular applause. On the 16th of 
January, 1766, the journal informs us: "I went to 
Solomon Kimball's, in Bradford, and preached. But 
before service, Milliken the sheriff, and several of the 
head men of the parish, came to prevent my preach- 
ing, who threatened me very much if I did proceed. 
At last, when they were engaged in their opposing 
talk, I began service, upon which they held their 
peace and went out." 

It is a pleasant relief to find in this same journal, 
that the Rev. Mr. Barnard is mentioned as courteous, 
if not friendly. Through all the excitements and 
collisions of the times, Mr. Barnard and Mr. Smith, in 
all their personal relations, seem to have preserved 
their courtesy as gentlemen, and their charity as 
Christians. 

On the 4th and 5th of September, 1765, Mr. 
Smith informs us : "I was with the corporation at New- 
port which sat upon the college business, and was 
elected one of the Fellows of the College. Although 
but part of the corporation, we subscribed nineteen 
hundred and ninety-two dollars for the building 
and endowing the college." From this date until 
his death, or nearly forty years, Mr. Smith was 
closely identified with the affairs of the college. 
He was the intimate friend of Nicholas Brown, for 
whom the college was subsequently named. This 
church, at his suggestion, entered zealously into the 
effort to raise funds for its endowment. 



22 DISCOURSE. 

In October, 1769, he left the church, by their per- 
mission, for a tour in the Middle and Southern States, 
to solicit subscriptions for the college; which he did 
with great success, returning to Haverhill in the 
month of June, 1770. It was during this visit at the 
South that he made the acquaintance of Whitefield, 
in the city of Savannah. A few years after this, 
a family of Mr. Smith's parishioners, residing in 
Methuen, sent their son to this town to serve his 
time as an apprentice in the store of "Merchant 
White." Mr. Smith soon discovered that the tal- 
ents of the boy were such as to demand devel- 
opment in a wider sphere. Accordingly, he took 
him under his own instruction, and saw him duly 
fitted and sent to the college in Rhode Island. 
That store-keeper's apprentice was Asa Messer, for 
twenty-four years the third President of Brown 
University. It is to be regretted that Mr. Mes- 
ser's administration as President gave the friends 
of the college such serious dissatisfaction, that the 
Baptists in the eastern section of New England 
felt called upon to establish the Literary and The- 
ological Seminary in Waterville, Maine. And it 
is worthy of remark that the second pastor of 
this church, the Rev. William Batchelder, is said 
to have lost his life by the zeal with which, in 
the rigor of an eastern winter, he went among 
the Baptists in Maine to raise funds for the In- 
stitution in Waterville. Strongly impressed with 



DISCOURSE. 23 

the importance of that institution, he was most 
successful in creating enthusiasm in its behalf. 
His success carried him beyond his powers of en- 
durance, and induced the illness of which he died. 

During the entire century the connection of this 
church with our seminaries of learning has been 
constant and influential. The origin of the church, 
as we have already seen, was identified with the 
founding of the college in Rhode Island, the first 
established by the Baptists in America. For near- 
ly forty years the first pastor of the church was 
a member of the Board of Fellows of the college, 
and exercised a most important influence in its 
administration. The second pastor was equally in- 
fluential in the establishment of the Institution in 
Waterville. The oldest son of the third pastor 
was educated at Brown University, and was tutor 
there. After this he was for many years a pro- 
fessor in the college at Waterville, where he held, 
as he still holds, a prominent position among sci- 
entific men. And for the last thirty years this 
church has been represented in the corporation of 
the University in Providence, as well as of the New- 
ton Theological Institution. 

On the 28th of June, 1765, a few weeks after 
the church was constituted, a call was given to 
Mr. Smith to become the pastor. On the 13th of 
the succeeding August, a committee of the congre- 
gation waited upon him to urge his acceptance of 



24 DISCOURSE. 

the call, and proposed to give him " £ 100 lawful 
money per year." 

It is a significant circumstance, that this action of 
the church and congregation was not taken until 
Mr. Smith had been preaching for nearly twelve 
months in Haverhill; and that significance is height- 
ened by the fact, that he kept the question of 
his acceptance and permanent settlement as pastor 
of the church under consideration until the close 
of the second year of his ministry among them. 
It is evident that he was greatly tried by the 
conduct of those ministers and churches, who 
at the first had given him such a cordial welcome, 
and upon whom he had relied as the friends of 
Whitefield and an earnest piety, but who subsequently 
arrayed all their influence against him. At length, 
however, he determined to remain in Haverhill, 
and on the 12th of November, 1766, was installed 
the pastor of this church by his special friends, 
Messrs. Gano of New York, Manning of Provi- 
dence, and Stillman of Boston. 

For the next few years it may be said of him, 
as was said of Wesley, that he "lived chiefly in 
the saddle." He had very definite convictions con- 
cerning the New Testament idea of missions and 
evangelism, and he impressed those convictions very 
strongly upon the church. They would have 
resented it as a very grave reproach, if at any 
time it had been intimated that it was needful or 



DISCOURSE. 25 

desirable to obtain the services of any professional 
itinerant to assist them in building up the church 
in Haverhill or its immediate vicinity. That, they 
believed to be their own especial work ; a work which, 
with the ordinary blessing of the Master, they were 
amply able to perform. And more than this, they 
felt that it was equally their duty to carry the 
gospel to "regions beyond." Acting upon these 
convictions, the church from time to time author- 
ized its pastor, accompanied by one or two of its 
members, to make evangelizing tours to the north- 
ward and eastward, in destitute sections of New 
Hampshire and the District of Maine, and "to re- 
ceive any persons into the church which they 
should esteem to be meet subjects, provided the 
person or persons live at such a distance that they 
can't attend to be received into the church in the 
usual order." These evangelizing; tours were made 
in the counties of Hillsboro', Strafford, and Rocking- 
ham, in New Hampshire, and the counties of York, 
Cumberland, and Lincoln, in Maine. 

On returning from these labors, the pastor and 
his associates reported their proceedings, which were 
acknowledged and confirmed by the action of the 
church. Thus, on the 29th of April, 1768, it was 
voted, "That Deacon Whittier and Brother Welch 
should accompany our pastor to visit our scattered 
brethren in the Eastward next fall." On the 8th of 
July, in the same year, it was voted, " To approve 



26 DISCOURSE. 

and confirm the proceedings of the pastor, Dea- 
con Whittier, Deacon Shepard, and Elder Greenleaf, 
in dismissing members from this church, and consti- 
tuting two Baptist churches, one in Gorham and the 
other in Berwick." Thirteen churches were thus es- 
tablished by the action of this church, and the 
evangelizing labors of its minister and members. 
These labors, however, were destined to serious in- 
terruptions. In October, 1769, Mr. Smith went to 
the Southern States, and was absent for nearly nine 
months, collecting funds for the college. At the 
meeting of the Association,* in Bellingham, on the 
12th of September, 1770, he "was chosen agent for 
the Baptists, to go to England with a petition to 
our King, to seek redress from oppression in matters 
of religion." In that same month of September, 
he went to Boston to "assist in forming a petition 
for the Baptists to present to the General Assembly 
of this province, to see if we could obtain relief from 
oppression on account of religion, without sending 
our cause to England." The mission to England 
was abandoned ; but during the next few years Mr. 
Smith and his associates, Backus, Manning, and 
others, were actively engaged in addresses to the 
General Assemblies and to Congress, to obtain relief 
from the oppressions of the "standing order," and 
to establish perfect religious liberty for all. 

* This church was one of the four by which the Warren Association was organ- 
zed on the 8th of September, 1767. 



DISCOURSE. 27 

At the opening of the war of the Revolution, on 
the 12th of July, 1775, the church voted, " That 
our Pastor comply with the request of Col. Nixon, 
and supply as Chaplain." In accordance with this 
vote, Mr. Smith entered the army, where his ser- 
vices were most acceptable, and where he made the 
acquaintance and enjoyed the confidence of Wash- 
ington. During this protracted absence, the church 
was favored with the ministrations of the friends of 
their pastor, Manning, Stillman, Gano, Seamans, and 
others. Mr. Smith's official connection with the 
church, however, remained unbroken, and in 1780 
he resigned his chaplaincy and returned to the more 
grateful labors of the ministry at home. 

In the spring of 1786, Dr. Manning found it im- 
possible longer to perform the double service of 
president of the college and pastor of the church 
in Providence, especially as he had accepted the 
appointment of the General Assembly of Rhode 
Island to represent that colony in the Congress of 
the Confederation. On the 2d of April, 1786, Mr. 
Nicholas Brown, as one of the committee to " look 
up a suitable person to be the pastor" in place 
of Mr. Manning, writes to his friend Mr. Smith, 
that "no one will be more acceptable on all ac- 
counts than himself for that important place." On 
the 17th of May, President Manning, who was then 
attending Congress in New York, writes to Mr. 
Smith, "I have been informed of the application 



28 DISCOURSE. 

to you to be my successor in the meeting in Prov- 
idence. I should be happy in your society, and, 
should Providence order your lot there, I shall 
while there contribute my best endeavors to make 
your life happy and useful to the people ; but I 
think it best to interfere as little as may be with 
their determinations in settling a minister. Should 
you accept their invitation, your piety I trust 
would more than compensate the defect of polite- 
ness." This last sentence would seem to intimate, 
either that the good people in Providence were be- 
coming a little fastidious, or that the polished man- 
ners of Mr. Smith were becoming a little rusty. 
This proposed removal of the pastor occasioned a 
slight commotion in the church. Some of the mem- 
bers strenuously objected to the proceedings of the 
church in Providence, and even questioned the right 
of Mr. Smith to leave the church in Haverhill 
without its consent. On the 17th of August, 1786, 
the church took action on the subject, and, as the 
record says, it was " acknowledged by the church 
that our pastor has a right to leave this church, 
if he saw it to be his duty." But the Pastor did 
not see it to be his duty, — wisely preferring to re- 
main where his piety and politeness were both and 
equally satisfactory to his parishioners. 

It has always been a cardinal principle, in the 
ecclesiastical polity of the Baptists, that the church 
is the only organization recognized in the New 



DISCOURSE. 29 

Testament in connection with religion. Hence, in 
their estimation, the existence of societies, incorpo- 
rated pew-holders, or other organizations, composed 
in part or altogether of persons who are not mem- 
bers of the church, and allowed directly or indi- 
rectly to control the action of the church, was if 
possible to be avoided. All such extraneous organ- 
izations they believed to be contrary to the spirit 
if not the letter of the Scripture, — erroneous in 
principle, and pernicious in result. But, until com- 
paratively a recent period, the laws of Massachu- 
setts did not recognize a Baptist Church as enti- 
tled to any rights of property, or as having any 
corporate existence. As matter of necessity, there- 
fore, the parishioners of Mr. Smith were obliged to 
form what he terms a " private society, " — that is, 
they associated themselves together as private in- 
dividuals, erected the meeting-house upon this spot 
in 1765, and cooperated with the church in the 
maintenance of religion. From the first, however, 
the church carefully maintained its prerogatives, and 
defined the duties of its members. Those members 
were to pay according to their several ability for 
the support of the ministry and worship of the 
church. If any member of the church refused or 
neglected to pay the proportion assigned him by 
the church, he was amenable to her highest disci- 
pline. If any member of the congregation neg- 
lected or refused, he was to have no certificate 



30 DISCOURSE. 

to enable him to escape the grasp of iiie " standing 
order." Thus, on the 26th of October, 1770, it was 
voted, that the church committee "get what money 
they can from the society, and the remainder the 
committee is to make an equality for among the 
the brethren." Also voted, " That no one of the 
church or congregation shall have a certificate ex- 
cept he pays his proportion by the 1st of June." * 
For a long period the " private society " connected 
with the church had no corporate existence. At 
length an act of incorporation was thought to be 
a matter of unavoidable necessity, and was ob- 
tained from the Legislature and approved by John 
Hancock, the Governor, February 18th, 1793. Dur- 
ing the earlier part of the century, the greater 
portion of the expenses of the support of the min- 
istry and worship was paid by persons who were 
not members of the church. The bell was given 
and the ministerial fund established by those who 
were life-long and invaluable members of the con- 
gregation, but who never made a public profes- 
sion of religion. Yet the piety of some of them 
at least was known and read of all, and their 

* This responsibility of the church is stated in the following standing rule, 
which is copied from its records: "Each member of the church shall be subject 
to the church as a body, to see that he pays his proportion made by the 
church, so that one shall not be eased and another burdened ; and in case any 
one thinks himself burdened, the church shall determine respecting it ; and, in 
case of neglect or refusal, he shall be amenable to the discipline of the church." 
This responsibility is recognized with equal distinctness in the original covenant 
of the society. 



DISCOURSE. 31 

memories as ^Christians are fragrant to many hearts 
among us. It is moreover to be remembered to 
the honor of the society, which as a private as- 
sociation was identified with the church for the 
first twenty-eight years of its existence, and as a 
corporation has been equally identified with it since 
the 13th of February, 1793, that it has never at- 
tempted to interfere with the action of the church. 
In every instance of the settlement of a pastor, 
the society has promptly and unanimously con- 
curred with the action of the church, and that 
too, in one case at least, in which the action of 
the church did not commend itself to the judgment 
or the preference of the congregation. 

The ministry of Dr. Smith, extending over a period 
of a few months more than forty years, was eminently 
useful and happy to the last ; and at the ripe age of 
sixty-eight, on the 24th of January, 1805, " he gave 
his honors to the world again, his blessed part to 
heaven, and slept in peace." 

At the date of the decease of Dr. Smith, the Rev. 
William Batchelder was pastor of the church in Ber- 
wick, Me., where he had been ordained in November, 
1796, and where his labors were attended with signal 
tokens of the divine favor. His biographer informs us 
that his salary consisted in the use of a small farm and 
house, and the services of a man-servant abroad and a 
woman-servant at home. He worked on the farm, 
— kept a school for children during the day and for 



32 DISCOURSE. 

adults during the evening, — preached in various local- 
ities within a circuit of several miles three times on 
the Sabbath, and sometimes on the week days. He 
was one of the most attractive and successful preach- 
ers in that section of the country. His personal ap- 
pearance was peculiar and impressive. He was very 
tall, and his slender figure gave him the appearance of 
being taller than he was ; or, in the words of Crabbe, 
he " was six feet high, and looked six inches higher." 
His countenance was pale, and the effect of this pale- 
ness was heightened by contrast with a full head of 
hair, which he allowed to grow without cutting, and 
which hung about his neck and shoulders in locks that 
were bushy and " black as the raven." 

It will be remembered that the church in Berwick 
was one of the first which were planted by this church 
in the evangelizing labors which marked its early his- 
tory. This church, therefore, was well acquainted with 
Mr. Batchelder's talents and success, and upon the 
decease of Dr. Smith seems to have turned instinc- 
tively to Mr. Batchelder as his successor. At an early 
day their views and wishes were made known to him, 
and in the month of May, 1805, he began his ministry 
in Haverhill. In the following summer, they were fa- 
vored with a marked revival of religion, and in the 
early autumn gave Mr. Batchelder a call to settle 
permanently among them. On the 4th of December, 
in the language of the record, he was " invested 
with the pastoral care of the church, and the pre- 



DISCOURSE. 33 

rogatives of a gospel minister." The prominent 
clergymen who composed the council, examined 
the candidate, and inducted him into his office as the 
pastor, were Thomas Baldwin, Jeremiah Chaplin, 
Lucius Bolles, Elisha Williams, Shubael Lovell, and 
John Peak. In this office he continued with great 
acceptance and success until his death, on the 8th of 
April, 1818. During his ministry, the church was 
blessed with repeated revivals of religion, and re- 
ceived important accessions to its members. At the 
same time he was largely occupied with the mission- 
ary and educational enterprises of the denomination, 
to which he is thought to have sacrificed his life, 
dying prematurely at the age of fifty-one. 

Three months after the decease of the second pas 
tor of the church, the Rev. George Keely came to 
Haverhill, and for the first time ministered to this 
congregation. Mr. Keely is a native of the parish 
of Walsham, in the county of Suffolk, in the east of 
England. In early life he went to reside in London, 
where he attended upon the ministry of Dr. Rippon, 
by whom he was baptized and received to member- 
ship in the church which is at present in the care of 
Mr. Spurgeon. Soon after this, he entered the Theo- 
logical Seminary in Bristol, under the tuition of the 
venerable John Ryland; but was induced, by the 
partiality of the church in Northampton, to become 
their pastor as the successor of John Ryland, Jr., be- 
fore he had completed the course of study prescribed 



34 DISCOURSE. 

at Bristol. He has often referred to this circumstance 
of his having entered prematurely upon the work of 
the ministry without a thorough course of preparatory 
study, as one of the gravest errors, which has been 
to him the occasion of life-long and profound regret. 

After his ministry in Northampton, he was several 
years a successful pastor of the church in Ridge- 
mount, in the county of Bedford. But the prospects 
of his native country filled him with anxiety and 
distrust. " England," said he, " has had the chief hand 
in supporting antichrist. As a part of the power of 
the beast, she must fall. The period I apprehend is 
not far distant. From the confusions and calamities 
of that event I wished to remove my family." That 
wish brought him to America. 

On the 21st of August, 1818, the church invited 
Mr. Keely to become their pastor. On the 7th of 
October, a council, which the church had called for the 
purpose, examined Mr. Keely, considered the commen- 
datory letters which he presented from Robert Hall, 
Francis A. Cox, Joseph Ivimey, and John Rippon, and 
publicly solemnized his recognition as pastor of the 
church. The church record of that day's proceedings 
closes with the pious wish, that " pastor and people 
may enjoy the good-will of Him who dwelt in the 
bush." 

At the session of the Boston Association in Bev- 
erly, on the 15th of September, 1819, Mr. Keely 
preached the sermon. It made a profound impression, 



DISCOURSE. 35 

and established his position in America as one of 
the ablest and most impressive preachers. The 
audience was so large that they were obliged to 
have the service in the Congregational Church, 
which was kindly opened to them. In 1822, a 
portion of the members of this church having 
been dismissed for that purpose, the Second Church 
in this town was organized. For ten years or 
more the ministry of Mr. Keely was prosperous 
and happy. Then came a period of confusion 
and calamity, from which he sought relief, and 
resigned his pastorate, on the 13th of April, 1832. 
He has spent the long and beautiful evening of 
his life in Haverhill, retaining his membership in 
the church, honored and revered; and still survives 
wanting less than ninety days of the venerable 
age of ninety-three years. 

In the few years which immediately followed 
the resignation of Mr. Keely, the fortunes of the 
church were various and painful. Secession and 
compromise were the watchwords of the hour, and 
they well-nigh wrought the ruin of the church 
During the progress of these commotions, the Rev. 
Stephen P. Hill was ordained as its fourth pastor 
on the 2d of October, 1832 ; the first meeting- 
house was taken down ; a new one was erected 
in its place, and dedicated on the 7th of Novem- 
ber, 1833. The dedication sermon closed the ser- 
vices of Mr. Hill. Failing health induced him to 



36 DISCOURSE. 

ask a respite from the labors and perplexities of 
the situation. He spent the winter at the South, 
and his resignation as pastor was accepted on the 
2d of May, 1834. His official connection with the 
church was of only nineteen months' duration, and 
for nearly one-third of that brief period ill health 
obliged him to be absent. Yet his ministry was 
far more successful than might have been expected 
in the circumstances. The church accepted his res- 
ignation with regret, and his brief residence among 
them has not ceased to be. cherished in grateful 
recollection. 

On the 9th of January, 1835, another person 
was invited to take the charge of the church, and 
signified his acceptance of the invitation; but there 
was a long delay before he became a member of 
the church; he did not become their pastor, and 
ten months closed his labors with them. 

The fifth pastor entered on his ministry in the 
month of July, 1836, and was ordained on the 
20th of the next October. During the spring and 
summer of 1838, there were some special tokens 
of the divine presence, which seemed to indicate 
that the days of secession and compromise in this 
church were ended, and that its union was to be 
preserved. It was not, however, until the year 
1840, that it was permitted to rejoice in a com- 
plete deliverance, and to enter upon a new era in 
its history. During the previous winter, the peace 



DISCOURSE. 37 

of the church had been disturbed by some of the 
exciting questions of the time, and action had 
been taken which was very objectionable to some 
of its officers and members. At the regular church 
meeting on the 8th of March, 1840, it was thought 
that the time had come in which those irritations, 
if possible, should cease; and it was determined to 
set apart the 11th day of that month for fasting 
and prayer, to seek special divine assistance. At 
the close of that day's solemnities, the spirit of 
piety and unity prevailed ; and it found its first 
expression in an unanimous vote of indefinite post- 
ponement in relation to the subject which had 
recently occasioned the alienation of the members. 
That vote of indefinite postponement is the proper 
date of the commencement of what must be al- 
ways known, in the annals of this church, as the 
Great Revival of 1840. From the passage of that 
vote, the hearts of the members of this church, with a 
few unimportant exceptions, were united as the heart 
of one man in the earnest purpose to secure God's 
blessing. To improve those favorable indications, 
it was determined to have special religious ser- 
vices on every evening of the succeeding week. 
Those services were conducted by the pastor, as- 
sisted for a few evenings by his father, then cas- 
ually here upon a visit, and by our venerable 
friend, the Rev. Mr. Keely. In the course of the 
week, the attendance became so large, the inter- 



38 DISCOURSE. 

est so deep and solemn, the cases of inquiry and 
conversion so numerous, and so decided, that it 
was determined, on the succeeding Sabbath, to con- 
tinue the services for a second week ; and those 
services were thus continued from week to week, 
until the month of May. They were all con- 
ducted by the pastor, and it is needless to say 
that they tasked all his energies to the utmost. 

Our venerable father Keely, as we are wont to 
call him, was then approaching the limit of his three- 
score years and ten ; but his eye was not dim, 
nor his natural force abated. During the contin- 
uance of the special services, he preached very 
frequently, and with great acceptance and success. 
The other ministers, to whom the pastor was chiefly 
indebted for assistance in the putyit, were the Rev. 
Mr. Lawrence, of the Congregational Church, in this 
village, the Rev. Mr. Cushing, of the Congregational 
Church in East Haverhill, the Rev. Mr. Munroe, of 
the Congregational Church in Bradford, and the Rev. 
Mr. Field, of Methuen. There were a few others by 
whom occasional service was kindly rendered. 

One or two afternoons a week were devoted to 
prayer and personal conversation. On those occasions 
the body-pews in the place of worship were often 
filled with persons who had recently become decided 
Christians, or were earnestly seeking the way of life. 
Nor was the work confined to this congregation, or to 
the attendants at this place of worship. It soon be- 



DISCOURSE. 39 

came general throughout the town and its vicinity, 
and reached all classes in society. Many men in mid- 
life and some in old age became the subjects of 
its transforming power. Among those who received 
the ordinance of baptism on one occasion, as the fruits 
of that revival, was a little girl ten years of age, the 
youngest person ever received to membership in this 
church, and who is an esteemed member still ; a lad 
of eleven years, now honored and beloved as a suc- 
cessful pastor in a prominent city in New England ; 
one of your most prominent citizens, at the age of 
sixty years ; and another venerable gentleman at the 
age of seventy-three. This last was the son of Mas- 
ter John White, who "lined off the psalms in the 
rulable way," one hundred years ago. The voices of 
his descendants have been prominent in the praises 
of this church and congregation during all the cen- 
tury, and they retain that prominence to-day. 

In all that constitutes a genuine revival of religion, 
— a special and sovereign manifestation of the power 
of the Holy Spirit, — in its present influence, quiet, 
impressive, pervading, mighty, — in its subsequent 
results, yielding to this day, after the lapse of five 
and twenty years, abundant fruit in the character of 
churches and the lives of Christians, — the great 
awakening of 1840 takes the precedence of any and 
every occasion of especial religious interest which was 
ever experienced in this vicinity, during the two hun- 
dred years which had then elapsed since the first white 



40 DISCOURSE. 

man erected his cabin in this beautiful valley of the 
Merrimack. It was a revival of which no human 
being could take to himself the slightest measure of 
the glory; unless it were that admirable man, after- 
wards an officer in the church, but long since counted 
worthy to enter into rest, who, on that memorable 
Fast Day, the 11th of March, moved the indefinite 
postponement of the subject which had caused the 
divisions among brethren. Let me name him, — 
Josiah Brown. 

To this church that great revival was as life from 
the dead. It marked the commencement of the third 
quarter of the century of its history which we cele- 
brate to-day. Yes, verily, those heavenly experi- 
ences, as they seemed at the time, and seem still in 
memory to some of us, were ours in all their bless- 
edness and beauty just one quarter of a century ago. 
As the legitimate consequence of that holy visitation, 
this church has gone steadily, not to say triumphantly, 
on its way rejoicing. Other revivals followed, perhaps 
equally intelligent and healthful, but not equally pow- 
erful and pervading. The congregation outgrew the 
place of worship ; and in 1849, the spacious one we 
occupy to-day was erected and arranged, with all its 
appointments and surroundings, — paid for to the last 
fraction, with something over, — and then, in the lan- 
guage used in the service of its dedication, "separated 
from all unhallowed, secular, and common uses, and con- 
secrated to Christ and his church alone." In 1851, it 



DISCOURSE. 41 

was hallowed by a very interesting revival of relig- 
ion. In 1858, the church shared largely in the 
religious interest which was so general throughout 
the country. In 1859, another church was organized 
in this village by a colony from this, which, notwith- 
standing the calamitous influences of the war, is pros- 
perous and happy, has secured for itself a place of 
worship commodious and tasteful, and with its pastor 
comes home to us to-day to partake in our rejoicings. 
On the 1st day of January, 1860, the connection of 
the fifth pastor with this church was dissolved at his 
own request, and on the 1st day of August, 1861, the 
sixth was ordained as his successor. As the former 
is the speaker upon this occasion, and the latter is 
present, happy in the success of his ministry and the 
affections of his people, the special consideration of 
their labors may be fitly left to those who shall hold 
the centennial celebration upon this spot on the 9th 
of May, 1965. 

The whole number of persons who have been 
received to membership in this church, in this town 
of Haverhill, upon profession of faith, is nine hun- 
dred and eighty-nine;* and the greatest number of 
members at any time connected with the church 
is three hundred and sixteen. If these numbers 
seem small in the statistics of a century, an ex- 
planation may be furnished by the principles upon 

* It will be understood that this number is exclusive of all those who were bap- 
tized and became members of the thirteen churches mentioned on a preceding page - 
6 



42 DISCOURSE. 

which the church was founded and in which it 
stands. It has always been a cardinal principle, in 
this church, that no person can be made a Chris- 
tian by the ordinance of baptism, and that no per- 
son can be saved by the ordinance of baptism 
On the contrary, that only faith in Christ can 
make a man a Christian, and that only this faith 
can save him ; that a man must believe before he 
can be baptized, and therefore that he must be virtu- 
ally saved before his baptism. Our fathers left the 
established churches, for this among other reasons, 
that in those churches baptism was administered to 
the unbelieving, to the unregenerate, infants and 
adults. They were the Puritans of the Puritans; sep- 
arating from the churches of the Puritans to which 
the unregenerate were openly received, to establish 
purer churches, into which none should gain ad- 
mission who did not give credible evidence that 
they were born again. They held that the new 
birth is an inward change, palpable to the con- 
sciousness of the individual, and of which he can 
give an intelligible account to others; and that, if 
a person had no such consciousness, and could give 
no such account, they could not regard him as a 
"meet subject" for the ordinances; or if, j>rofess- 
ing such an experience, his life was not " conform- 
able thereto," he was not to be received to the 
church under any pretence whatever. Their anx- 
iety, therefore, was, not so much that persons should 



DISCOURSE. 43 

be church-members as that they should be Chris- 
tians. In building the church, it was not numbers, 
but character, which was the great object of their 
ambition. As an inevitable consequence of this, 
there have been many persons who were most ex- 
emplary members of this congregation, — not infre- 
quently the chief reliance for the pecuniary support 
of the pastor and the church, — who were devout and 
constant worshippers and most liberal supporters of 
all good things; in fine, who were, in the judgment 
of others, exemplary Christians, yet who never be- 
came communicants in the church they loved. 

These fundamental principles in the structure of 
this church have found constant expression in its 
discipline. For many years it was the custom to 
report to the Association the number of members 
who were under discipline. The act of discipline 
being understood to suspend the offender from the 
privileges of the church, all such were reported as 
suspended members. At one time eight were re- 
ported as " under suspension," — the whole number of 
the church being one hundred and seventy-one. In 
two instances seven are reported, and in another, 
three. The " life and conversation " of the members 
received special consideration at the meetings of the 
church preparatory to the Lord's Supper, and, if 
they were not satisfactory, that ordinance was 
omitted. In June, 1775, the Lord's Supper was 
omitted by vote of the church, because some of 



44 DISCOURSE. 

the members were under discipline for not pay- 
ing their proportion for the support of the worship, 
and on account of difficulties existing in the church 
which required further discipline. And in conse- 
quence of this, that ordinance was not administered 
again for nearly three years, or until February, 
1778, when it was " unanimously agreed that the 
sacrament should be administered on the last 
Lord's day in that month, the difficulties which 
long subsisted in the church being removed." The 
offences for which discipline was administered were 
various and noteworthy. Among them were the 
'* neglect to pay one's proportion as determined by 
the church for the ministry ; " " neglect to attend 
the worship and ordinances of the church;" "re- 
proaching the church ; " " complaining of the pas- 
tor ; " " being a tattler and a busybody ; " " having 
lawsuits with each other ; " * dancing, and allow- 
ing their children to dance ; " " setting people at 
variance;" and so forth. These and a variety of 
similar offences were visited with discipline and 
suspension; and, if penitence and reformation were 
not secured, exclusion was the issue. The office- 
bearers in the church were not exempted from its 
censure, and one of its earliest deacons was 
promptly removed from office and finally excluded. 
The grosser immoralities were corrected by imme- 
diate exclusion. 

During the first fifty years of the history of 



DISCOURSE. 45 

the church, only two of its members were licensed 
to preach the gospel. If, in the estimation of our 
fathers, it was a great thing to be a Christian, it 
was a much greater thing to be a Christian min- 
ister. If a candidate for the church must give 
conclusive evidence of conversion, a candidate for 
the ministry must give equally conclusive evidence 
of a divine call to that holy office. It was not 
sufficient that a man thought himself called to 
preach, or felt that a woe was on him if he did 
not preach. He must " improve his gifts " to the 
satisfaction of the church. If, by doing this, he 
convinced them that he could preach, and that it 
was the divine purpose that he should preach, they 
were ready to grant him approbation for the ser- 
vice. If not, he was remanded to his proper 
place as a private member. During the winter of 
1767-68, Brother Pelatiah Tingley was permitted 
to " improve his gifts ; " but the church were unable 
to discover their fitness for the ministry, and no 
license was granted him. On the 22d of Septem- 
ber, 1771, the church were invited to send messen- 
gers to assist in ordaining Mr. Sanborn ; but hav- 
ing heard Mr. Sanborn preach, they voted " to de- 
sire the messengers which we send, not to assist in 
ordaining him." In 1774, Brother Pillsbury wished 
to be licensed to preach. For this purpose he 
'improved his gifts " on three occasions appointed 
for that purpose. After these repeated improve- 



46 DISCOURSE. 

merits, the church were not satisfied with the qual- 
ity of the gifts, and license was refused. Four 
years later, however, he was more successful, and 
was licensed. In 1802, Timothy Morse, having at- 
tempted to preach without a regular approbation 
from the church, was disciplined for his presump- 
tion, made confession, and abstained from such ir 
regularities. Within the century, twelve brethren 
have requested license. To four of these license 
was refused. To eight, license was granted. Three 
of these subsequently forfeited their license and 
were excluded, and the remaining five proved 
themselves good ministers of Jesus Christ. 

While the entrance to the ministry has been so care- 
fully guarded by the church, the pastoral office has 
been held in deserved respect. Every pastor has been 
examined and inducted into the holy office by a coun- 
cil called by the church for that purpose, and in this 
way, as the records state, " publicly invested with 
the pastoral care of the church, and the prerog- 
atives of a gospel minister." The good name and 
influence of the pastor have been protected, and 
his office magnified. One of the earliest instances 
of discipline was that of a woman who had 
allowed herself to speak too freely in relation to 
Mr. Smith. She was censured, by a vote of the 
church, as a "tattler and a busybody," made to 
confess in open church-meeting, and afterwards to 
set a watch upon her lips. At a later period, 



DISCOURSE. 47 

when an officer of the church presumed, at the 
close of divine service, to censure the pastor in 
the presence of the congregation, he was promptly 
rebuked, and made suitable apology. These and 
kindred influences doubtless have contributed to 
the stability of the church and the permanence of 
its ministry. The services of its four permanent 
pastors cover a period of ninety years. 

One hundred years ago the order of public 
worship in New England was quite unlike that 
to which we are accustomed. The public reading 
of the Scriptures, was not generally introduced un- 
til after the Great Awakening. In the records of 
the Old South Church, in Boston, under date of 
April 24th, 1737, it is stated, that "the brethren 
stayed and voted that the holy Scriptures be read 
in church, and' that it be left to the discretion of 
the pastor what to read and what to expound." 
In 1765, the usage was established, and the first 
pastor of this church read the Scriptures, and for 
many years gave an exposition, as the sermon of 
the morning. June 23d, 1765, he writes: "In the 
forenoon expounded from the first chapter of the 
epistle to the Romans, which I propose to ex- 
pound in course." 

The singing was congregational in the strictest 
sense. The deacons and elders sat in the seat 
prepared for them before the pulpit, and Mr. 
John "White, still remembered as Master "White, 



48 DISCOURSE. 

"lined off the psalms in the rulable way." June 
27th, 1766, the church voted, "to request Mr. 
White, to sit with the elders, on account of his 
reading the psalms." 

One hundred years ago the subject of instrumental 
music in public worship was just beginning to ex- 
cite attention. A pamphlet had been printed in 
1763, and distributed through the colonies, entitled, 
"The lawfulness, excellency, and advantages of in- 
strumental music in the public worship of God, 
nrged and enforced from Scripture, and the ex- 
ample of the far greater part of Christians of all 
ages." The author certainly made the most of the 
argument from Scripture, for he tells us that "long 
before the flood, Jubal followed the making of 
organs as a trade, and that at the dedication of 
Solomon's temple the grand concert of praise was 
enlivened with one hundred and twenty trumpets, 
a proportionable number of other musical instru- 
ments, and a well-toned organ." The ingenuity 
and boldness of these exegetical inferences were 
not unlike those of the pastor of the church in 
Hampstead, who, in his argument with Mr. Smith 
upon infant baptism, insisted that the children of 
Noah were entitled to circumcision. 

No instrumental music mingled in the worship 
of this church during the ministry of the first 
pastor. In 1806, a query from the church in 
Londonderry, "concerning the lawfulness of instru- 



DISCOURSE. 49 

mental music in the worship of God," was con- 
sidered in the Warren Association, by a committee, 
of which President Messer was the chairman. 
Their report was adopted by the Association, and 
pronounces the opinion, "that the New Testament 
neither expressly sanctions nor prohibits the use of 
instrumental music, and therefore that each church 
should act in the case according to its own sense 
of duty." Acting upon this very sensible opinion, 
this church introduced instrumental music, though 
not without opposition, during the ministry of Mr. 
Batchelder. Traces of that opposition appear in the 
records during the ministry of Mr. Keely. From 
1786 to 1856, there was a choir. Then the church 
returned to the ancient custom, and the singing 
became congregational, as it is to-day. 

Evening meetings for conference and prayer were 
unknown in this church, as they were in all this sec- 
tion of the country, until about 1795. They were 
first held in the large kitchen of Deacon William 
Smiley, in a house still standing on the south side of 
Washington street, a few rods east of the railroad. 
They were conducted and sedulously cared for by the 
pastor. Those brethren who possessed gifts for public 
prayer and exhortation were encouraged to improve 
them. Those who had not, were required to be 
silent worshippers. No woman, in those meetings, 
ever ventured to violate the express command of the 
New Testament concerning the public services of 



50 DISCOURSE. 

religion, by presuming to exhort the brethren or to 
lead their devotions. 

Go back with me in imagination, if you can, to that 
bright Sabbath morning on the 9th of June, 1765, 
just one month less than one hundred years ago, when 
Mr. Smith and his friend President Manning preached 
for the first time in the "frame of the meeting- 
house " upon this spot. They did not wait until the 
meeting-house was finished before they used it, and it 
was never dedicated. Puritans in those days rarely 
dedicated meeting-houses. The Old South, in Boston, 
was never dedicated. To the mind of a Puritan the 
dedication of a meeting-house savored too strongly of 
the Episcopal idea of the consecration of a church. 
Place yourself just outside the frame of that new 
meeting-house, on the brow of this steep ascent, then 
fifteen feet higher than it is to-day, and note the wor- 
shippers as they approach. See Manning, young and 
handsome, with his full-bottomed wig and gown and 
bands ; Smith, tall, graceful, dignified and prepos- 
sessing. See the solid men, Samuel White, Esq., 
James Duncan, the three John Whites, — Captain John, 
Merchant John, and Master John. See Peter Carle- 
ton, and Simon Ayers, and William Greenleaf, and 
others, with their knee-breeches, cocked-hats, wigs, or 
clubbed hair, or pig-tails. See " the honorable women 
not a few," in costumes equally grotesque to our mod- 
ern taste. Some are walking in family processions ; 
. for then a family went to the house of God in com- 



DISCOURSE. 51 

pany. Some are on horseback from the farms. Here 
is a fair woman, the beautiful wife of Peter Carleton, 
for instance, behind her husband on a pillion, and 
there is a blooming daughter behind her father or her 
brother.* No one is in a carriage, unless it be a 
lumbering calash ; for merchant John White has the 
only chaise in town, and that chaise is not used 
upon the Sabbath; and at that day a riding wagon 
was an article to be waited for for thirty years. 

In the public worship in that frame, on that 
memorable Sabbath, prayers were devoutly offered 
for our King and Queen and all the Royal Family. 
Master White "lined off the psalms in the rulable 
way," in the version of which you have sung a 
specimen this morning. Each of the sermons was 
an hour long, and both of them were the subject 
of serious conversation in almost every family dur- 
ing the evening of that holy day; after all which, 
the younger members of the households, having 
been duly catechised, were dismissed to bed an 
hour after sunset. How often in this town has 
the Sabbath-day been hallowed in any more accept- 
able or pious way? 

A goodly number of those families who first 
worshipped upon this spot have retained their con- 

* At the close of the exercises of the day, an esteemed member of the 
church assured the speaker, that she well remembered riding to the Baptist 
meeting behind her father on a pillion; and she was a blooming daughter much 
less than a hundred years ago. 



52 DISCOURSE. 

nection with this church and congregation through 
all the changes of the century, and are with us 
now, the lineal descendants and loyal representa- 
tives of that noble ancestry. The family of the 
first pastor is represented in the line of direct 
descent, while his blood, mingled with that of one 
of his earliest and most esteemed parishioners, and 
of another of his first and most valued converts, 
is flowing in the veins of one of our youthful 
ministers and missionaries on the other side of the 
world. 

On the 9th of May, 1765, New England was 
upon the western frontier of civilization. The 
entire population of these British North Amer- 
ican colonies, stretching a thousand miles along 
a narrow strip of the Atlantic coast, was about 
one million five hundred thousand, — but little more 
than the population of Massachusetts to-day. The 
white man, whose residence was in the farthest 
west from Haverhill, dwelt in a log house between 
Albany and Utica, not more than two hundred 
and fifty miles from this. All beyond to the Pa- 
cific Ocean, and all the islands in that ocean and 
the countries the other side of that ocean, were 
in savage paganism. 

In that year Watt completed the steam-engine; 
but it was more than forty years later before 
Fulton succeeded in propelling his little craft from 
New York to Albany in three and thirty hours, 



DISCOURSE. 53 

and it was more than fifty years before men be- 
gan to conjecture the nature and measure of the 
service which the steam-engine was to render to 
the world. In that year, 1765, Eli Whitney was 
born ; but more than a quarter of the century passed 
away before he invented the cotton-gin. As the 
result of that invention, we have seen cotton and 
slavery enthroned ; and among the crowning victories 
of the century and the crowning glories of our lives, 
cotton and slavery have been hurled down from their 
seat of power, and, as God is true, they shall rise 
no more. 

At that time, a piano, or an umbrella, or a 
parasol, had never been made in England or Amer- 
ica, and a sewing-machine was eighty years off 
in the distant future; yet two spinning-wheels, 
a large and small one, were in every well-fur- 
nished house, and in the outfit of every bride 
that was worth the having. If any young woman 
of that period attempted to acquire what is now 
called "an education," she must have found her- 
self engaged in the pursuit of knowledge under 
difficulties. Twenty-five years later, in 1790, in 
the best public schools in Haverhill only the 
senior class was taught writing and arithmetic. 
The second class or classes were to be wholly em- 
ployed in reading and spelling. The second class, 
however, were each to bring one or more answers 
daily out of a catechism. Even to these schools 



54 DISCOURSE. 

girls were not admitted, except from May to Sep- 
tember, one hour in the forenoon and one in the 
afternoon ; and during those hours all the boys 
were sent home. 

A striking evidence of the state of public sen- 
timent concerning the education of females, in one 
of the most highly cultivated and richest portions 
of New England, less than a hundred years ago, 
is furnished by the fact, that as recently as 1808, 
when a private school was established in the city 
of Salem, by its wealthiest citizens, to give their 
children the best education which money could 
procure, it was seriously questioned whether mathe- 
matical instruction beyond the first five rules of 
arithmetic could be profitably undertaken ; and it 
was thought impossible for girls to comprehend 
decimal and vulgar fractions. 

In 1765, the telegraph, the daguerreotype, the rail- 
way, were things of which the world had never 
dreamed. Even a bridge across the Merrimack was 
a proverbial impossibility. Letters came by the 
postman in his saddle-bags twice a week from Bos- 
ton, and once a week from Concord. 

It was twenty years after this before the science of 
chemistry was born. To-night, almost every city in 
the civilized world, and this village and many others 
as well as private dwellings in America, will be 
lighted in a way that would have been thought lit- 
tle less than miraculous one hundred years ago. Such 



DISCOURSE. 55 

are some of the changes in the civilization of the 
century. 

In all that pertains to the aggressive work of 
our religion, the changes have been, if possible, 
still greater. One hundred years ago, Eliot, the 
apostle to the Indians in the vicinity of Boston, 
had been for three quarters of a century sleeping 
in his grave, and his labors and successes were 
among the traditions of a by-gone age. There 
was not a religious newspaper in the world, and 
there was not to be for more than forty years* 
A few pious people were reading the biography 
of David Brainerd, who had worn himself out with 
toil and hardship among the distant heathen, just 
this side of Albany and between New York and 
Philadelphia. The Catholic priest held his con- 
fessional and distributed his rosaries in the French 
and Spanish settlements of America ; and this was 
all. Since that clay, the missionary enterprise has 
been developed in all its surpassing grandeur. In 
all that pertains to material civilization, in all that 
belongs to the social, intellectual, and religious ad- 
vancement of the race, it is not too much to say 
that the century we celebrate is without a parallel 
since the days of Christ and his apostles. 

It is not however, the purpose of this occasion, 
to celebrate the progress of civilization or Chris- 

* The " Herald of Gospel Liberty," the first religious newspaper in the world, 
was first published in Portsmouth, N. H., September, 1808. 



56 DISCOURSE. 

tianity in general, but rather the progress of this 
church, and of the principles upon which it rests. 
"What .was it, then, which led to the organization 
of this church ? What are the principles upon which 
it is founded, and what has been the progress of 
those principles for these hundred years? 

When Hezekiah Smith began his ministry in Massa- 
chusetts, the "standing order" was the established 
religion of the State. A tax for its support was 
levied upon every citizen, and collected in the 
same manner as a tax for roads and bridges, or 
any other municipal necessity. Every resident with- 
in parish bounds was required to attend the parish 
church, and to accept the teaching of the parish 
minister as the authoritative exposition of the word 
of God. The penalties for neglect of these duties 
were fine and imprisonment. In 1768, three years 
and a half after this church was constituted, the 
widow Martha Kimball, of Bradford, — in whose house 
" Milliken the sheriff, and the head men of the 
parish," had attempted to break up a religious ser- 
vice not very long before, — was taken to jail be- 
tween nine and ten o'clock at night, in mid-win- 
ter, for the non-payment of "four shillings, eight 
pence," lawful — about eighty cents. Soon after, John 
White, of this village, for taxes, fine, and costs, was 
sentenced in court in the sum of ninety pounds 
lawful, or three hundred dollars.* This, beyond all 

* A pound lawful, was three dollars and thirty-three and one third cents. 



DISCOURSE. 57 

question, was the denial of the right of private 
judgment, and the union of church and state. 

It was in consequence of these and similar op- 
pressions that the Warren Association determined 
"to send to the British Court for help, if it could 
not be obtained in America," and appointed the first 
pastor of this church as their messenger to the 
King of England. They declared that liberty of 
conscience and worship is the right of every man; 
that the church is the only organization which the 
New Testament recognizes in connection with re- 
ligion ; that the support of the church is not a 
political but a religious duty; and that the only 
connection which the state should have with the 
church is that of protection without control. Wisely, 
earnestly, and persistently as Smith, Manning, Backus, 
and their associates labored for the establishment 
of these principles, they "died without the sight." 
It was not until 1833, that the third article in 
our bill of rights was so amended, that church and 
state were separated in Massachusetts, and liberty of 
conscience and worship, as the right of every man, 
was finally and perfectly secured. 

Liberty of conscience and worship is the right of every 
man. This is the first principle upon which this 
church was founded. 

The second legitimately follows and is like unto 
it. It is the principle of individual accountability ; the 
principle that no human being can be religious 



58 DISCOURSE. 

by proxy. No person can be made a Christian 
by the act of another person, parent, sponsor, or 
priest. Every one must repent for himself, believe 
for himself, be baptized for himself, fill his place 
in the church himself, be saved or lost for himself. 
Every one must give account of himself to God. 

The third is the supreme authority of the plain 
and obvious meaning of the word of God. The found- 
ers of this church objected to all special pleading 
in the interpretation of the Scripture. They re- 
jected, utterly and forever, all sophistical explana- 
tions and exegetical devices, by which, when the 
Bible says one thing, it is distorted to mean an- 
other. They said, the Bible was made for the 
common mind. It means what it says. The plain 
and obvious meaning of the Scripture is the Scrip- 
ture, and is our ultimate authority. They would 
have accepted with thankfulness the declaration of 
the great statesman of New England, when he 
said, "I believe that the Bible is to be under- 
stood and received in the plain and obvious mean- 
ing of its passages, since I cannot persuade my- 
self that a book intended for the instruction and 
conversion of the whole world should cover its 
true meaning in such mystery and doubt that none 
but philosophers and critics can discover it." Hence 
they believed, that, in the worship, doctrines, ordi- 
nances, structure, government, and action of the 
church, nothing is to be permitted which is not 



DISCOURSE. 59 

in accordance with the positive enactments, the 
plain examples, and fundamental principles left us 
by Christ and his apostles. 

They regarded it as among the plainest and 
most obvious teachings of the New Testament, that 
nothing but faith in Christ can make a man a 
Christian ; that by that faith and by that only, 
a person becomes a member of the holy catholic 
church, the church invisible and universal, the holy 
company of God's elect; that every such person 
is to make profession of his faith in Christ in the 
ordinance of baptism, and enter into covenant with 
his brethren; and that by that profession and 
covenant, and by that only, can he become a mem- 
ber of a church visible, an organized society of the 
disciples of the Lord Jesus. They were unable to 
find in the New Testament any trace of any 
churches except associations of baptized believers, 
covenanted together to walk in the faith and or- 
der of the gospel. Hence, with them, a church of 
unconverted members was a contradiction in terms. 

They felt compelled to accept the plain and ob- 
vious teaching of the New Testament, that faith 
must precede baptism ; that as baptism is the ap- 
pointed way of making a profession of religion, a 
person cannot be baptized who is incapable of mak- 
ing a profession of religion, or who has no relig- 
ion to profess. Baptism, therefore, could not be 
administered to the unregenerate, infant or adult. 



60 DISCOURSE. 

The invariable practice of the New Testament ap- 
peared to them to be in strict accordance with 
its teaching. They could find no instance of the 
baptism of an infant in any circumstances, and 
none of the baptism of an adult except upon pro- 
fession of faith in the Lord Jesus. 

They said, the plainest and most obvious teach- 
ings of the Scripture compel us to believe that 
the baptism of our Saviour and his apostles was 
immersion, and therefore we must accept immer- 
sion as the baptism of the Bible. 

Concerning the ministry, they had a profound 
conviction, that, if none but a religious person is 
to be a professor of religion and a member of the 
church, for a stronger reason none but a religious 
person is to be a teacher of religion and a min- 
ister of the church. Others maintained that a 
minister must be a scholar, but need not be a 
Christian. Our fathers said, a minister need not be 
a scholar, but he must be a Christian. In the judg- 
ment of the former, religion was desirable for a 
minister, but learning was indispensable. In the 
judgment of . the latter, religion was indispensable, 
and learning was desirable. 

Moreover, they believed that in the time of our 
Saviour and his apostles every church was an or- 
ganization complete within itself and independent of 
every other, and therefore that every church should 
be independent now. 



DISCOURSE. 61 

Such are the principles upon which this church 
was founded, and has been conducted, and on 
which it rests to-day. And the chief occasion of our 
rejoicing in this glad hour is the progress which 
these principles have made within the circuit of 
the century. Within the century evert/ one of these 
principles has been conceded and achioivledged by the 
highest authorities in almost all classes of Protestants 
whose practice differs from our own. 

The original independence of the churches was 
conceded and maintained by the late Archbishop 
Whately, one of the most distinguished prelates 
in the Church of England. He says : " It appears 
plainly, from the sacred narrative, that, though the 
many churches which the apostles founded were 
branches of one spiritual brotherhood, of which the 
Lord Jesus Christ is the heavenly head, — though 
there was one Lord, one faith, one baptism for all 
of them, — yet they were each a distinct, independent 
community on earth, united by the common princi- 
ples on which they were founded, and by their mu- 
tual agreement, affection, and respect; but not hav- 
ing any one recognized head on earth, or acknowl- 
edging any sovereignty of one of these churches 
over another." 

The fact, that the New Testament contains no pre- 
cept for infant baptism and no example of it, has long 
been acknowledged. Says Dr. Woods, of Andover : 
"It is plain that there is no express precept respecting 



62 DISCOURSE. 

infant baptism in the Scriptures." Says Professor 
KnajDp, of Halle : " There is no decisive example of 
this practice in the New Testament." Says Mr. 
Beecher, of Brooklyn : " The baptism of infants is 
not commanded in the Scriptures, and there is no well- 
attested case of its administration in the New Testa- 
ment." Says Dr. Hanna, one of the great lights of the 
Presbyterian Church, the son-in-law and biographer 
of Chalmers : " No express mention is made of infants 
in the command of Christ, who instituted this rite, 
and no distinct case of the baptism of infants is men- 
tioned in the sacred narrative." Says the " North Brit- 
ish Review," the organ of that noble body of Chris- 
tians, the Free Church in Scotland : " Scripture knows 
nothing of the baptism of infants. There is abso- 
lutely not a single trace of it to be found in the 
New Testament." 

Faith, said the founders of this church, necessa- 
rily precedes baptism. There can be no baptism 
where there is no faith. Precisely the same doc- 
trine is maintained by Dr. Hanna. He says : " Faith 
in Christ constituted the essential element of char- 
acter to be possessed and exhibited by all true 
members of the church. Baptism was to be admin- 
istered therefore, could only with a purpose and a 
meaning be administered, to adults, who made a 
credible profession of that faith." So teaches Dr. 
Hodge, the accomplished and venerable Professor of 
Theology at Princeton. Says he : " Paul was a peni- 



DISCOURSE. 63 

tent believer before his baptism ; and in all other cases 
where men were baptized they professed to be Chris- 
tians. It has accordingly been the custom in all ages 
to require a profession of faith on the part of those 
received to sealing ordinances. But faith is the exer- 
cise of a renewed heart, and if faith supposes regen- 
eration, and baptism supposes faith, then, by the voice 
of the church as well as of the Scriptures, baptism 
supposes the renovation of the heart." Neither our 
pious fathers nor any of their descendants ever stated 
or defended the peculiar principles of this church 
with greater clearness or decision ; and it is worthy 
of regard, that the persons in whose very words I 
have quoted these admirable statements of our prin- 
ciples are among the most distinguished teachers and 
preachers in other denominations, — representative 
men in those denominations in this country and 
beyond the sea. 

That there is no baptism in the New Testament 
but immersion is now acknowledged by the Greek 
scholarship of Christendom. 

And where, it may be asked, is there a Christian 
congregation who would not resent it as a grave im- 
pertinence if it should be intimated that they did not 
regard a pure and decided religious character as the 
first, the indispensable qualification of their minister ? 

Where in a Christian community is there a human 
being who would venture to deny the doctrine of 
individual accountability, — that each must answer for 



64 DISCOURSE. 

himself to God ; while liberty of conscience and wor- 
ship as the right of every man is acknowledged by 
all people, with the comparatively unimportant excep- 
tions of Pius the Ninth and a portion of his clergy, 
and Brigham Young and his adherents, the Mormons. 

This then, this day, is our great rejoicing, — that 
the principles in which this church was planted one 
hundred years ago have fought the fight and kept 
the faith and gained the victory, and that it only 
remains for them to finish their course and receive 
the crown. Such has been the wonderful progress 
of those principles, and such their almost universal 
triumph within the century, so widely are they dif- 
fused and so universally acknowledged, that the 
courteous intimation is already given us that there 
is no longer a necessity for our separate existence 
as churches of our Lord ;. that other denominations 
would gladly welcome us to their membership, would 
allow us to enjoy these principles among them, or 
even cooperate with us for their dissemination and 
defence. It is possible, that if the churches in Mass- 
achusetts had recognized these principles as fully in 
1765 as they are recognized in 1865, this church 
might never have been organized, and we should 
have been deprived of the pleasure of our present 
jubilee. 

If the progress of these principles shall be as rapid 
and successful in the future as it has been during 
the century which terminates to-day, before the ex- 



DISCOURSE. 65 

piration of another hundred years they will reign 
triumphant from sea to sea and from the river to 
the ends of the earth ; and those who gather to the 
centennial which shall be helcT upon this spot on 
the 9th of May, 1965, will celebrate their perfect 
and final victory. 

And the glory shall be given to the Fathee, and 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as it was in the begin- 
ning, IS NOW, AND EVER SHALL BE, WORLD WITHOUT END. 

Amen. 



Centennial Ccklmttbir, 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 



At the annual meeting of the Baptist Religious Society in Haver- 
hill, held April 25th, 1864, it was voted to unite with the Church in 
celebrating the One Hundredth Anniversary of the formation of the 
Church and Society, and Rev. Augustus H. Strong, Messrs. James 
H. Duncan, John Keely, George Appleton, Moses D. George, Wil- 
liam Smiley, Leonard Whittier, Leverett TV. Johnson, Warner R. 
Whittier, George A. Kimball, and James D. White were chosen a 
Committee of Arrangements. 

The Church, at their monthly meeting, May 25th, 1864, voted to 
unite with the Society in celebrating the One Hundredth Anniver- 
sary of the formation of this Church, which will occur on the ninth 
of May next, and that the committee chosen by the Society be the 
Committee of Arrangements. 

The above committee met soon after, and voted to invite Rev. 
Arthur S. Train, D. D., who was pastor of the Church and Society 
for more than twenty-three years, to prepare a Historical Discourse 
for the occasion. 

On the 31st of March, 1865, the committee met at the house of 
J. H. Duncan, and organized by the appointment of Rev. A. II. 
Strong, as Chairman, and J. H. Duncan, as Secretary. Messrs. 
Strong, Duncan, and Keely were chosen a committee to prepare and 
transmit invitations to churches, ministers, and other friends of the 
Church, and also to arrange the services for the occasion ; and it was 
voted to engage the Town Hall, to be occupied for a collation, on the 
day of the celebration. 



70 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

At a meeting of the Church, held April 6th, 1865, the Committee 
of Arrangements was enlarged by the addition of gentlemen and 
ladies from the Church and Society. The committee held several 
subsequent meetings, at which sub-committees were chosen to make 
the necessary arrangements for a collation ; to provide for the deco- 
ration of the church edifice ; to raise a subscription to defray contin- 
gent expenses ; to select a choir, and to give public notice of the ar- 
rangements for the celebration. 

These several sub-committees reported progress at subsequent 
meetings of the general committee. 

Letters of invitation were printed and sent to the former Pastors 
of the Church still surviving ; to the President of Brown Univer- 
sity ; to ex-President Wayland ; to the Faculty and ex-Professors of 
Newton Theological Institution ; to the Secretaries of the Baptist 
Missionary Union ; to those Pastors and Ministers who had been 
specially connected with this Church by supplying the pulpit, or other- 
wise ; and to the editors of our religious papers. Special invitations 
were sent to the descendants and connections of former Pastors of the 
Church ; to the Third Baptist Church and Congregation, which had 
been recently formed from this ; and to those Churches which had been 
organized by dismission from this the parent Church. Invitations 
were also sent to the Churches in Warren, Middleboro', and Belling- 
ham, which with this Church united to form the Warren Association ; 
and to all the Churches composing the Salem Baptist Association. 

SERVICES AT THE CHURCH. 

Although the weather was unpropitious, — commencing with rain 
in the morning, which continued through the day, and prevented 
many of the friends of the Church from being present, — yet a large 
number of pastors, delegates, invited guests, and former members of 
the Church and Society assembled and filled the sanctuary. The 
audience-room was tastefully and appropriately dressed with wreaths 
and flowers prepared by the young ladies and gentlemen of the con- 
gregation. On the sides of the pulpit were wreathed tablets, presenting 
the names and terms of pastorate of the six pastors of the Church. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 71 

The order of exercises at the Church was .is follows : 
VOLUNTARY ON THE ORGAN, 

BY MR. RUFUS WILLIAMS, ORGANIST OF THE CHURCH. 

INVOCATION, 

BY REV. A. H. STRONG, PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 

HYMN, 

WRITTEN BY REV. S. P. HILL, A FORMER PASTOR OF THE CHURCH, FOR THIS 
CELEBRATION. READ BY REV. G. W. LASHER, PASTOR OF THE THIRD BAPTIST 



CHURCH. 



Tune — Old Hundred. 

Lord ! thou hast heen in every age 

Thy people's dwelling-place and tower ; 

Their record bears on every page 
The proofs of thy protecting power. 

Thou wast our fathers' God, of old, 
Midst this, their loved Jerusalem ; 

And they to us have fondly told 

Of all the wonders wrought for them. 

E'en as the eagle stirs her nest, 

Yet o'er it spreads her wings abroad ; 

So didst thou fold them to thy breast, 
Their own, their all-sufficient God. 

When through the wilderness they came, 
Thine arms their helpless weakness bore ; 

In cloud by day, by night in flame, 
Thy guiding pillar went before. 

One hundred years since then have passed, - 
One hundred years of gathering age ; 

And where, at first, their lines were cast, 
We have their goodly heritage. 

To-day within thy house we leave 
Our tribute for thy constant care ; 

For all the past, — our praise receive ; 
For all the future, — hear our prayer. 



72 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 

READING OF THE SCRIPTURES, 

BY REV. K. C. MILLS, D. D., PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, SALEM 

PRAYER, 

BY REV. ALVAH HOVEY, D. D. 

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRD PSALM, 

AS SUNG IN THE YEAR 1765. READ BT REV. A. S. TRAIN, D. I). 

Tune — Dundee. 

Who fear the Lord, his mercy is 

On them from aye to aye ; 
So, likewise doth his righteousness 

On children's children stay. 

To such as keep his cov'nant sure, 
• Who do in mind up lay 
The charge of his commandment pure, 
That it obey they may. 

The Lord hath in the heavens high 

Established his throne ; 
And over all his royalty 

Doth bear do—min-i-on. 

O ye his angels that excel 

In strength, bless ye the Lord, 
That do his word, that hearken well 

Unto the voice of 's word. 

All ye the armies of the Lord, 

O bless Jehovah still ; 
Ye ministers that do accord 

His pleasure to fulfil. 

Yea, all his works in places all 

Of his do-min-i-on, 
Bless ye Jehovah ; O my soul, 

Jehovah bless alone. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 73 

THE CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE, 

BY REV. A. S. TRAIN, D. D., LATE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH. 

PRAYER, 

BY REV. ROLLIN II. NEALE, D. D. 

HYMN. — THE ALOE. 

READ BY REV. GEORGE BULLEN, PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN SOUTH READING. 

Tune — Hebron . 

The aloe, in the northern clime, 
Gathers its strength from sun and rime, 
Transmuting into healing leaves 
Whate'er from nature it receives. 

But not until a hundred years 

The glory of its life appears ; 

The sweetness, treasured hour by hour, . 

The century crowns with perfect flower. 

And thus our ancient church, O Lord ! 
Has scattered healing leaves abroad : 
A hundred years its influence bless ; 
Thousands its saving power confess. 

Oh, let this natal day behold 

Its strength and fragrance all unfold ! 

Accept the glory of its days, 

The blossom of its garnered praise. 

BENEDICTION, 

BY THE PASTOR. 



74 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The following original hymn, by Rev. S. P. Hill, was sung at a 
pause during the delivery of the Centennial Discourse : 

ORIGINAL HYMN. 

Hail to the hoary past ! 

Old memories, dear and strong, 
Back from a Century cast, 
Around us thickly throng, 
As midst our greetings here and now 
We press this consecrated brow. 

Hail to the ancient shrine 

Built by our fathers here, 
Whose sons in constant line 
Have knelt at, — year by year : 
How soft their every footstep falls 
In fancy, round these sacred walls ! 

Hail to the salient spring 

Of truth divine, — whose flow 
Was wont such health to bring, 
One hundred years ago ; 
And flows in streams of comfort still, 
Forth from this oft-frequented hill. 

Shades of the reverend dead, 

Of lips and lives sincere ! 
Still are ye known and read, 
Still held in memory dear ; 
And still the fragrance of your dust 
We cherish, as a precious trust. 

Praise to the Sovereign Power 

Whose kind paternal care 
Has spared us to this hour, 
His wonders to declare 
To children's children ; and to show 
His ways one hundred years ago ! 

And may the truths here taught, 

The memories that survive, 
On all the future fraught 
To unborn ages live : 
And be this sacred spot the home 
Of generations yet to come ! 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 75 

COLLATION. 

At the close of the exercises in the Church, the invited guests, with 
the members and past members of the Church and Society, to the num- 
ber of four hundred, repaired to the Town Hall, where a bountiful 
collation was provided, under the direction of the committee. The 
attendance at the tables was by a volunteer company of young ladies 
and gentlemen of the congregation, whose graceful and quiet atten- 
tions heightened and enlivened the interest of the repast. 

The guests having all been seated, Rev. Mr. Strong, in a brief 
address, welcomed them to the enjoyments of the occasion, and called 
upon Rev. Dr. Warren to invoke the divine blessing. He then 
announced Hon. James H. Duncan as selected to preside. At the 
conclusion of the repast, the President gave a historical sketch of the 
circumstances which caused the formation of the Church and Society, 
of the erection of its different houses of worship, and other leading facts 
of its history and progress, and contrasted the present position of this 
Church and of the Baptist denomination with that of a century ago. 

An original hymn, written by Rev. S. F. Smith, was then sung by 

a select choir : 

HYMN, 

BY KEV. S. F. SMITH. 



We reap to-day the glorious fruit 
Of labor, prayers, and tears, 

And joyful, sing the precious root, 
Strong with its hundred years. 



In cold and heat, in calm and storm, 
The thickening fibres spread, — 

Modelled in heaven, its life and form 
With heavenly juices fed. 



And far o'er all these sunny slopes 
The outstretched boughs expand ; 

True to the fathers' early hopes, 
It shades and fills the land. 



76 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

IV. 

Honored and loved, where none molests, — 

His labor finished well, — 
The noble planter calmly rests 

Where first the fruitage fell. 

v. 

And still the healing branches toss, 

And still its head it rears, 
Feels no decay, and shows no loss, 

Strong with its hundred years. 

VI. 

Come from the weary toil and strife, 

And sit beneath the shade, 
And hail it like the tree of life, 

Whose leaf shall never fade. 

In response to the call of the President, Rev. Dr. Neale spoke in his 
usual happy and enlivening manner. He was followed by Rev. Dr. 
Warren in interesting remarks on the progress and principles of the 
Baptists. Hon. G. W. Cochrane, a former member of the society, 
and connected by marriage with a former pastor, Rev. William Batch- 
elder, alluded in feeling terms to the associations of the past, and 
expressed warm and earnest hopes for the future. 

The hymn entitled " The Rock of the Pilgrims," selected by Mr. 
J. L. Blaisdell, the chorister of the church, was then sung. 

HYMN, 
i. 

A rock in the wilderness welcomed our sires 
From bondage far over the dark rolling sea ; 

On that holy altar they kindled the fires, 
Jehovah, which glow in our bosoms for thee. 



Thy blessings descended in sunshine and shower, 
Or rose from the soil that was sown by thy hand ; 

The mountain and valley rejoiced in thy power, 
And Heaven encircled and smiled on the land. 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 77 

in. 

In church and cathedral we kneel in our prayer ; 

Their temple and chapel were valley and hill : 
But God is the same in the aisle or the air, 

And he is the Rock that we lean upon still. 

This was followed by an animated speech by Rev. J. D. Fulton, of 
Boston. 

Rev. J. N. Sykes, of Newburyport, being next introduced, offered 
very happy remarks, in which expressions of joy and solemnity, in 
view of the circumstances under which the company had assembled, 
were mingled, and concluded with sentiments bearing upon the impor- 
tance of the distinctive principles of the Baptist faith. 

Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Newton Centre, offered some words of counsel 
and encouragement. 

The speaking was concluded by remarks from Dr. S. F. Smith, a 
connection by marriage with the descendants of the first pastor. 

In response to the circulars of invitation, letters were received 
from Hon. Heman Lincoln, Rev. H. Fitz, Rev. Drs. Hackett, Ripley, 
Caldwell, Eddy, Hill, Sears, Benedict, and Rev. Kendall Brooks and 
Rev. A. J. Gordon, regretting inability to be present. Time to read 
extracts from only two of these was found during the succession of the 
speeches above mentioned. 

At the close of the exercises in the hall, an ode written by Rev. S. 
P. Hill for this anniversary, in allusion to the beautiful Merrimack 
river which flows in front of the Baptist meeting-house, and in whose 
waters the rite of Baptism has often been solemnized, was sung by 
the choir to the tune of " Auld Lang Syne," the whole company 
joining in the chorus. 

Soon after 5 p. m., after singing the Doxology, " Praise God from 
whom all blessings flow," the company separated, pleased with the 
social and intellectual entertainment in which they had participated, 
the recollections of which will be long cherished ; yet chastened by the 
thought that long before another century shall terminate, all the par- 
ticipants in the present commemoration will have passed to the 
retributions of eternity. 



78 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ODE. 

BY KEV. S. P. HILL. 

Tune — Auld Lang Syne. 



Sweet stream ! whose banks witli verdure decked 

Our feet have often pressed, 
Thy tranquil waters still reflect 
The skies upon thy breast ; — 
Or murmuring peacefully, amidst 

Those banks, yet onward flow : — 
Thou wear'st the features that thou didst 
One hundred years ago. 

Chorus — One hundred years ago — what strange 
Events Time's stream doth show ! 
We look through what a scene of change, 
These hundred years ago. 



The Pilgrim Fathers trod this shore 

When no " church-going bell " 
Was wont, in gladdening tone, to pour 

Its sounds o'er hill and dell ; — 
The horrid war-whoop oft instead 

Betrayed the savage foe ; — 
Nor had the murderous yell quite fled 
One hundred years ago. 

Chorus — One hundred years, mid tears and gloom, 
Their hands the seed did sow, 
Which blossomed in such hopeful bloom 
One hundred years ago. 



And toil of fathers less remote 

Their heritage endeared ; 
Their sturdy stroke the forest smote ; 

Their hands their altars reared. 
' Slow spread Art's beautifying light, 

The tread of Empire slow 



CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 79 

Moved up the misty mountain-height 
One hundred years ago. 

Chorus — One hundred years, but, oh, how vast 
The blessings time doth show 
On all the records of the past 
One hundred years ago ! 



Old scenes, old friends, old times, adieu ! 

Yet e'er shall memory hold 
Among its choicest treasures true 

Your forms, still dear, though old ; — 
We, too, must pass along the stream, 

On to life's latest bourn, — 
Whence back to its once cherished dream 

We nevermore return : 

Chorus — But still our grateful thought shall dwell, 
While time for us may flow, 
On those who served their age so well 
One hundred years ago. 



|)bt0rical ftotcs. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 



The first entry in the records of the Church is as follows : 
"The 9th of May, 1765. We whose names are first affixed to the 
covenant which is here inserted, after solemn Fasting and Prayer, 
mutually agreed to walk in gospel order together, having before been 
baptized by immersion, but not joined to any church. And that we 
might better understand each other's religious sentiments, we thought 
proper to covenant in the following manner : — 

" We, the underwritten, concluding it expedient to unite as Chris- 
tian brethren in a particular anti-pedobaptist Church in this place, do 
jointly, as such, profess to be built upon the foundation of the Apos- 
tles and Prophets, Jesus Christ being the Chief Corner-Stone. This 
we profess in the presence of God, angels, and men. And we do 
mutually declare and acknowledge the Old and New Testaments, 
called the Holy Scriptures, to be the rule of our faith and practice, 
and their doctrines, as follows, by us to be maintained." 

The doctrines of the Church are then briefly stated in eleven par- 
ticulars : — 

1. The doctrine of the Trinity. 

2. Salvation the " conjoint work " of the Trinity. 

3. There is but one Mediator. 

4. Election. 

5. The fall of the human race in Adam. 



84 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

6. The necessity of " supernatural grace." 

7. Baptism and admission to the Lord's Supper " upon a satisfac- 

tory profession to the Church" of having been regenerated 
by the Holy Ghost. 

8. The authority of civil government. 

9. Promise of fidelity in duties to God, to each other, and to the 

Church. 

10. Who are meet subjects for membership in the Church. 

11. " The imposition or non-imposition of hands after baptism is 

not essential to church communicating." 

The organization of the Church was completed by the choice of 
Jacob Whittier, of Methuen, and Jonathan Shepherd, of Haverhill, 
as Deacons, and the choice of Jacob "Whittier as Treasurer. 

At that time " the Law of the Province " required " the approba- 
tion of three ministers and churches to a church before they can be 
clear from ministerial taxes to the other denominations." According- 
ly, Mr. Smith and William Greenleaf went immediately to Boston, 
Middleboro', and Warren, and obtained from four ministers and 
churches the certificates which the law required. The Rev. Mr. 
Spalding, the Pastor of the Church in Warren, informs us that it ap- 
pears from the records of that Church, that in 1765, "a special meet- 
ing was called, occasioned by the application of Rev. Mr. Smith, 
from a church newly constituted at Haverhill, who, being threatened 
with oppression by the established Congregationals, were under ne- 
cessity of having certificates of their being in fellowship with order- 
ly churches." 

May 30, 17G6. The Church voted, " That all who subscribe to 
the covenant in the Baptist Society's book should have certificates " 
to enable them to obtain exemption from taxes to support the " stand- 
ing order." 

June 27, 1766. The record of the Church is as follows: — "The 
Church of Christ being met according to appointment, and finding 
things in peace and harmony, we then proceeded to give out certifi- 
cates to our Society ; after that, — Voted, That Samuel Harriman 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 85 

and James Can* should be Elders among them, and likewise advised 
the Elders and Deacons to take the seats provided for them. The 
Church also desh-ed Mr. Greenleaf and Mr. Shepherd to wait upon 
Mr. John "White and desire him to sit in the Elders' seat, on the ac- 
count of his reading the Psalms. The Church likewise considered 
the destitute circumstances of the (second) Baptist Church in Bos- 
ton, and consented that their pastor should go and supply them one 
Sabbath." 

This election of Elders was in accordance with a usage then ex- 
isting in the churches, which has since passed away. 

January 30, 1767. The Church voted, "To set apart the last 
Friday in every month for fasting and prayer and church business, 
if there is any ; every member to be present, or to give account of 
their absence." 

July 31, 1767. The Church voted, "To join and help form the 
Association which is to meet in Warren in September next." 

August 28, 1767. Voted, That the following be the letter to the 
Association : — 

" We, the Church of Christ in Have:-hill, having been baptized 
upon profession of faith, holding to believers' baptism by immersion, 
particular election, original sin, redemption through Christ, and final 
perseverance, &c, to the reverend ministers and messengers of the 
several Baptist congregations met at "Warren to form a regular Asso- 
ciation, send greeting : 

" Dearly Beloved : — We hope you will through divine goodness 
be directed to form a regular and useful Association, which shall con- 
duce to the benefit of Christ's cause and the Baptists' interests in 
general. For those of the same faith to disagree among themselves 
must hurt the general body, and give the enemy great advantage 
against them ; so that we view the interest of Christ particularly con- 
cerned in the body now forming, in which we hope to have a place. 

" Our Church was constituted on the 9th of May, 1765, being twenty- 
three in number, and in the same year we had thirty-four added to 
the Church. In the year 17 G6 we had twenty-nine added, and in the 



86 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

present year, 1767, we have had twenty-one added : so that we consist 
of one hundred and seven members at present. We are blessed with 
peace and unity among us. As to the state of religion, although it is 
not so lively as it has been in our congregation, yet we trust God has 
not quite left us. For more particulars we refer you to our brethren, 
Hezekiah Smith, Jonathan Shepherd, and Jacob Whittier, who are 
appointed by the Church to meet with you and assist in a work truly 
laudable, and which we trust will conduce to God's glory. Now unto 
God and the word of his grace we recommend you, begging that the 
all-wise Jesus will preside over all your deliberations, and guide you 
in the onerous undertaking. 

" So pray your brethren in the gospel." 

Dec. 30, 1768. "The pastor and Bro. Merrill reported to the 
Church their proceedings with the Church in Gorham, in opposing the 
ordination of Henry Dawson." 

June 29, 1770. The Church voted, " To send the pastor to Dama- 
riscotta to baptize and organize a church." 

July 8, 1770. The Church voted, "To send the pastor and breth- 
ren Greenleaf and Merrill to Stratham to organize a church." 

Nov. 18, 1774. The Church " concluded to adopt the plan for 
raising funds for Rhode Island College." 

May 31, 1778. Four persons were baptized and received to the 
Church by President Manning, the Pastor being absent as chaplain 
in the army. 

November 22, 1787. The Church voted, " To invite Phineas Cole, 
Ebenezer Farrington, Anthony Kelly, Daniel Chase, and Jonathan 
Currier to sit in the singers' seats and take the lead in singing, and 
place as many others therein as they shall think best, who are suit- 
able." This was the first introduction of a choir in the worship of 
this Church. In 1856 the choir was discontinued and congregational 
singing was restored. 

In December, 1836, the Church adopted a plan of systematic benefi- 
cence. Foreign missions, home missions, and the various other objects 
to which they determined to contribute were, from time to time, to be 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 87 

presented to the Church and congregation by the pastor. Immediately 
after this, the standing committee upon benevolent contributions were 
to wait upon the members of the Church and congregation and receive 
their subscriptions. As a result of this system, these contributions 
gradually and steadily increased. Those of the year 1837 were 
$149.23, while those of the year 1859 were $1,877.37. The contri- 
butions of the Church for the last quarter of the century were nearly 
$ 25,000. And this sum is exclusive of all which has been given by 
members of the Church in their private charities. The obligation of 
the members of the Church to " pay according their several ability " 
to these contributions for the spread of the gospel, is recognized in the 
same language and sentence in the covenant which binds them to the 
pecuniary support of the ministry and worship of the Church itself. 
The paragraph in the covenant is as follows : 

" We promise, by the grace of God, affectionately to walk to- 
gether in the fellowship of the Church ; faithfully to observe the or- 
dinances which Christ has appointed for the Church ; constantly and 
devoutly to attend the public and social worship of the Church ; and to 
pay according to our several ability for the support of that worship and 
for the spread of the gospel thoughout the world. 

Cjtt |J asters. 

The first Pastor, Hezekiah Smith, was born in Long Island, New 
York, April 21, 1737. At the age of eighteen years he was bap- 
tized by the Rev. John Gano, and became a member of the Baptist 
Church in the city of New York. He was fitted for college at the 
academy in Hopewell, New Jersey, was graduated at Princeton, New 
Jersey, in the class of 1762, and received the degree of Master of 
Arts in course in 1765. During the two years succeeding his grad- 
uation, he travelled extensively in the Southern Provinces, and was 
ordained as an Evangelist in Charleston, South Carolina. In the 
summer of 1764 he came to Haverhill, and commenced his ministry 
in the West Parish. On the 20th of March, 1765, he took up his 



88 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

residence in " Haverhill town," which was his home during the re- 
mainder of his life. In September, 17G5, he was elected a member 
of the Board of Fellows of Brown University. On the 12th of 
November, 1766, he was installed as Pastor of the Church in Haver- 
hill. He served as chaplain in the Army of the Revolution from 
1776 to 1780. In 1797, he received the honorary degree of Doctor 
of Divinity from Brown University. He died on the 24th of Janu- 
ary, 1805. 

The second Pastor, William Batchelder, a son of Ebenezer and Su- 
sanna (Crosley) Batchelder, was born in Boston, March 25th, 1768. 
He was ordained as Pastor of the Church in Berwick, Maine, on the 
29th of November, 1796. He was installed as Pastor of the Church 
in Haverhill on the 4th of December, 1805. He died on the 8th of 
April, 1818. 

The third Pastor, George Keely, was born in the parish of Wal- 
sham, in the County of Suffolk, in the East of England, on the 26th 
of July, .1772. He entered the Theological Seminary in Bristol, 
England, in the year 1796, and was ordained as Pastor of the Church 
in Northampton in the year 1799. In the year 1818 he emigrated 
with his family to the United States. On the 7th of October, 1818, 
he was installed as Pastor of the Church in Haverhill. On the 13th 
of April, 1832, he resigned his pastorate, but has retained his mem- 
bership in the Church, and continues to reside in Haverhill. 

The fourth Pastor, Stephen P. Hill, was born in Salem, on the 
17th of April, 1806, and is the son of John Hill and Elizabeth 
(Browne) Hill. He was graduated at Brown University in the 
class of 1829, and at the Newton Theological Institution in the class 
of 1832. On the second day of October, 1832, he was ordained as 
Pastor of the Church in Haverhill. His resignation as Pastor was ac- 
cepted on the second day of May, 1834. In that year he became 
Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and con- 
tinued such until October, 1850, when he removed to Washington, 
D. O, and became Pastor of the First Baptist Church in that city. 
In 1857, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from 

L.ofC. 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 89 

Madison University, New York. In 1860, he resigned his pastorate, 
hut has continued to reside in Washington. 

The fifth Pastor, Arthur Savage Train, was born in Framingharn, 
and is the eldest son of Rev. Charles Train (Harvard University, 
1805), and his only child by his first wife, Elizabeth (Harrington) 
Train. He was graduated at Brown University in the class of 1833, 
was licensed to preach in September of that year, and entered upon 
the special studies preparatory to the ministry. He was soon after ap- 
pointed tutor in Brown University, and continued in that office until 
September, 1836. He began his ministry in Haverhill, in July, 
1836, and was ordained as Pastor of the Church on the 20th of Octo- 
ber in the same year. In 1845, he was elected a member of the 
Board of Trustees of Brown University, and, in the year 1855, that 
University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of 
Divinity. In June, 1859, he was unanimously elected Professor of 
Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Duties in the Newton Theological In- 
stitution. He entered upon the duties of that office in November, 
1859, although his connection with the Church as Pastor was not dis- 
solved until January, 1860. 

The sixth Pastor, Augustus Hopkins Strong, was born in Roches- 
ter, New York, and is the son of Alvah and Catharine (Hopkins) 
Strong. He was graduated at Yale College in the class of 1857, and 
at the Rochester Theological Institutionin the class of 1859. He was 
ordained as Pastor of the Church on the first day of August, 1861. 

%ht Soricttr, 

The earliest notice of the Society occurs in the journal of Mr. 
Smith. In that journal, under the date of January 1, 1765, he wrote 
as follows : " I preached from Luke xiii. 8, 9, in the new meeting- 
house which was prepared for me. I make no doubt it was blessed to 
some. That evening went to Mr. Duncan's, where several friends 
met, and agreed that night to begin a private Society or meeting. 
The persons who met on that evening at James Duncan's, and agreed 
12 



90 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

to begin a private Society, had hitherto been prominent and influen- 
tial parishioners of the Rev. Mr. Barnard. The place of worship 
which they had prepared " under Mr. Colby's roof," proving wholly 
inadequate to their necessities, their first effort was to obtain the use of 
the First Parish meeting-house for Mr. Smith, at such times as would 
not interfere with the services held by Mr. Barnard. They made sev- 
eral requests to the Parish Committee to call a meeting of the Parish 
for this purpose ; but these requests were disregarded. At length, in 
January, 1765, they applied to a justice of the peace, and procured a 
warrant for calling a meeting of the Parish " to see if the Parish will 
vote that any ordained or gospel minister shall or may preach in said 
meeting-house at any time when it does not interfere with the Rev. 
Mr. Barnard's public exercises." Thirty-eight names were signed 
to this application. The Parish meeting was held, and the Parish 
refused to grant the request. 

Thus disappointed, the petitioners were forced to erect a place of wor- 
ship for themselves. The subscription paper for this purpose, dated 
February 4th, 1765, begins as follows : — " Whereas it is proposed by 
a number of well-afFected people in the town of Haverhill and other 
towns to build a convenient Baptist meeting-house for y e publick wor_ 
ship of God for y e people to meet in under their present difficult cir- 
cumstances, to that end and purpose," — then follows the subscription' 

Having secured this subscription, they proceeded at once to erect 
their place of worship. Mr. Smith's journal says, " Wednesday, 
June 5, 1765 : The people began to raise the meeting-house which 
was designed for me to preach in, and a very rainy day it was, 
though the rain did not prevent their proceeding to raise. No man 
got hurt, only Mr. Whiten had his head a little hurt by one of the 
pike poles falling on his head." For nearly thirty years this " pri- 
vate Society," which was simply a voluntary association of private 
gentlemen, cooperated with the Church in the maintenance of the 
institutions of religion. As the laws of the Colony would not allow 
them as Baptists any corporate existence, they entered into a compact 
with each other, avowing their religious preferences and convictions, 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 91 

and solemnly covenanting to pay according to their several ability for 
the maintenance of the ministry and worship which accorded with 
those convictions. This covenant was entered in full in the Society's 
book, and it was only by subscribing to this covenant in that book 
that persons became members of the Society. As the bond of union 
and basis of the organization and action of the members of the Soci- 
ety, who were not members of the Church, it is a remarkable docu- 
ment. It is worthy of the high-minded and Christian men who 
framed and signed it ; and it shows that it was not a mere preference 
for Mr. Smith, still less a covetous design of paying less than their 
proportion for the support of the institutions of religion, which in- 
duced them to organize this "private Society." It is dated May, 
1766, and is as follows: "We, whose names are hereunto sub- 
scribed, by studying the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, 
which we look upon to be the word of God and only rule to walk by, 
are of the opinion that the Baptists, called by some Anabaptists, are 
according to God's Holy Word ; and do acknowledge ourselves to be 
conscientiously of that profession, and believe it to be according to 
the example that Jesus Christ left, and ordered his children to walk 
in. Begging the prayers of all God's people, that we may have 
grace to walk agreeably to this, our profession, and that we may have 
Regenerating Grace, and be prepared to come up to all God's Holy 
Ordinances, and be enabled to walk blameless therein, we do hereby 
covenant, agree, and engage, each one for himself, to uphold, main- 
tain, and support this profession, in this Town of Haverhill, by pay- 
ing each one his proportion towards the support of said ministry, and 
all necessary charges which may arise relative to that affair." 

On the 18th of February, 1793, William Greenleaf, John White, 
James Duncan, and their associates, were incorporated by the General 
Court of Massachusetts, as the " Baptist Religious Society." In 1796, 
the Society made an effort to obtain what they regarded as their pro- 
portion of the parsonage lands belonging to the town, but, without 
success. Such efforts were subsequently repeated, but being always 
unsuccessful, were at length abandoned. 



92 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

In 1799 the meeting-house was thoroughly repaired and improved, 
and a steeple erected. Samuel White, Esq., presented a fine bell, 
which was cast for this purpose, and bore a suitable inscription as his 
gift. In consideration of this munificence, it was voted by the So- 
ciety, on the 7th of October, 1799, " That this Society, in testimony 
of their high esteem of the generosity of Mr. White, in compliment- 
ing them with a good bell, present their thanks to him ; that he be 
exonerated from paying anything towards defraying the present 
expense of repairing the meeting-house, and that the clerk furnish 
Mr. White with a copy of this vote." 

In April, 1820, a plan for a permanent fund for the support of the 
pastor was adopted by the Society. The fund was to be formed by 
quarterly contributions, donations, etc., and neither principal nor inter- 
est was to be used, until it amounted to $ 1,000, and none of the prin- 
cipal until it amounted to $ 10,000. In April, 1822, the amount of 
the fund was $ 95.96. In October of that year, Mrs. Sarah (White) 
How made a donation to the fund of $ 1,000. In the month of Octo- 
ber, 1823, Mrs. Anna (White) Saltonstall made a donation to the 
fund of $ 500. In that year the trustees of the fund were incorpo- 
rated. In the month of April, 1825, Mrs. Rebecca (White) Duncan 
gave $ 500 for the same purpose. 

The quarterly collections were discontinued in 1828. 

In 1842, about ninety-three acres of land, which had been given by 
the above-mentioned Mrs. Sarah W. How, subject to the life estate 
of her husband, David How, Esq., came into the possession of the 
ti'ustees as a portion of the fund. At present the fund amounts to 
something over $ 4,000. Of this amount more than half was given 
by the three ladies already mentioned. They were the daughters of 
Samuel White, Esq., in and around whose house in their childhood, 
three or four hundred persons had assembled when Hezekiah Smith 
conducted the evening worship of the family. 

In 1822, stoves were for the first time placed in the meeting-house. 
The same year the sum of $ 25 was appropriated for the support of 
music, — the first appropriation of the kind. In 1830 a bass-viol was 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 93 

purchased by the Society. In 1834, a double bass-viol was pur- 
chased. In 1841, these gave place to an organ. 



%\t Ht^tut0-Ixouscs. 

The first Meeting-house was erected immediately after the Church 
was organized, in the year 1765. It was set parallel to Merrimack 
street, standing nearly east and west. It was sixty feet in length, 
forty-two in breadth, two stories in height, and had windows too nu- 
merous to mention. The pulpit was on the north side. At the 
south side was the principal entrance, the large front door opening 
into the broad aisle, which extended to the pulpit. At each end, east 
and west, there was a porch, forming another entrance, with stair- 
cases leading to the galleries, which extended across the south side 
and the ends of the interior. The pulpit was finished with a sounding- 
board above, and deacons' and elders' seats before it. The pews were 
square ; the seats extended around three sides of the square, and 
were hung upon hinges. 

The whole structure was in accordance with the most approved 
style of ecclesiastical architecture in this section of the colonies at the 
time, and remained without alteration for nearly forty years. In 
1799, a tower and spire were erected at the east end of the building, 
and the beautiful bell, presented by Samuel White, Esq., for the 
first time summoned the worshippers to their place of prayer. 

The second Meeting-house was erected in 1833, and dedicated on 
the 7th of November in that year. It was set at right angles with 
Merrimack street, or nearly north and south. It was seventy feet in 
length by forty-two in width, was ornamented with a porch and 
double entrance in front, was pierced with three lancet windows on each 
side, and surmounted by a belfry. The cost of this structure, with 
its furniture and appointments, including remuneration to proprietors 
of the first Meeting-house, was five thousand three hundred dollars. 

The third Meeting-house stands in the same position as the second. 



94 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

It was erected in 1849, and was dedicated on the 8th day of No- 
vember in that year. This edifice consists of a tower and spire, — 
nave or body of the church, — chapel in rear, and vestry at the side. 
The style of the whole is the Perpendicular English, or fourth period 
of Gothic architecture, and all the features of the building and por- 
tions of the detail are intended to be in accordance with that style. 

The tower, which is nineteen feet square, is pierced at the base 
with three doorways, opening into the vestibule, from which two 
doorways lead to the church. The exterior doorways are decorated 
with hood mouldings and carved corbels. Over the door in front of 
the tower is a large lancet window divided by mullions into four sec- 
tions, with tracery above the sections. Over each doorway in the 
sides of the tower is a triplet niche, decorated with columns, hood 
mouldings and finials. The third section of the tower is pierced on 
three sides with narrow lancet windows, and the belfry, or fourth sec- 
tion, by double openings on all its sides, with trefoils and hood mould- 
ings at the head of the openings. Massive buttresses at right angles 
are carried up at the corners of the tower to its head, where they are 
surmounted with octagonal pinnacles, decorated with crockets and 
finials. Between the pinnacles the head of the tower is surrounded 
with a low parapet of tracery, and from each of the pinnacles a fly- 
ing buttress braces diagonally against the spire. The spire is octagonal, 
pierced in four of its opposite faces at the base with lancet windows, 
decorated through its whole height with crockets, and terminating in 
a finial. The height of the tower is eighty feet, of the spire eighty- 
five feet, finial four, — making the extreme height of tower and spire 
one hundred and sixty-nine feet. The exterior of the church is dec- 
orated with a single niche on each side of the tower in front, and 
is pierced with seven splayed lancet windows in flank. At the 
angles and between the windows heavy buttresses are carried up 
against the walls, and those at the angles are surmounted with pinna- 
cles. The windows are finished with hood mouldings, and a row of 
tendrils is placed under the cornice in flank and the copings of the 
gables. The exterior of the chapel and vestry is finished to corre- 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 95 

spond with the church, and the whole colored in sand, in imitation of 
the New Jersey freestone. 

The interior of the church is in style strictly corresponding with 
the exterior, and measures forty-nine feet in width by eighty-four in 
length. Of this length, eight feet is finished as an outer aisle under 
the choir gallery, to which the ascent is made by two flights of stairs 
in the angles. This aisle is separated from the main interior only by 
a screen of open columns, extending up to the underside of the choir 
gallery, and forming a support for the same. The front of the gallery 
is finished in lancet arches, enriched with trefoils, hood mouldings, 
and finials, with medallions beneath the cornice. The flank windows 
are set in deep splays, enriched with hood mouldings and corbels, and 
glazed with lozenge-shaped brown enamelled glass, producing by its 
subdued light a fine effect upon the whole interior. The walls are 
bonded and tinted in imitation of stone. The ceiling represents an 
open timbered roof, showing the sections, purlins, and boarding, — 
heavy mouldings with corbels beneath the sections — tracery in the 
spandrils and above the cross-ties, and pendants at the angles of the 
cross-ties, — all grained and varnished as English oak. 

The chancel is in form a lancet arch in recess, with clustered col- 
umns in the angles, and single ones at the intervals, surmounted with 
tracery and mouldings. In the apex of the arch is placed a rose 
window, embracing in its design a cross upon an azure ground with 
stars set in quarterfoil. In the centre — I. H. S. — the initials of 
the motto of the early church — Jesus, Saviour of Men. In the exte- 
rior border of the circle, in old English lettering, the sentence, " At 
the name of Jesus every knee shall bow." The intervals are filled with 
leaves of the palm and the vine, with grapes, — referring to the 
words of our Saviour, " I am the vine and ye are the branches." 

The pews are open seats without doors. The pulpit is carefully 
designed in size, elevation, and detail, to an exact correspondence 
with the proportions and features of the Church, with light columns 
at its angles, deep splayed pannels in trefoils in its faces, with mould- 
ings and medallions. The gallery front, pews, pulpit, and all the 



96 HISTORICAL NOTES. 

wood-work below the ceiling, are grained and varnished as black wal- 
nut. 

In the angles, at each side of the chancel, are doors leading to the 
chapel, the vestry, and outside the Church. The chapel is about 
twenty-eight and one-half by thirty-eight feet in area, and fourteen 
feet in height, the walls bonded and tinted, and the ceiling finished in 
sections and graining, as in the Church. It is arranged with a fixed 
pulpit, and movable furniture for Sunday school and evening ser- 
vices. The vestry is about fourteen by thirteen, finished in the 
same style, and to be occupied as a study by the pastor. 

The bell is from the foundry of Andrew Meneely, Esq., West 
Troy, N. Y. It weighs two thousand one hundred and six pounds, 
and, for the depth, clearness, and richness of its tones, is one of very 
great excellence. 

The organ, which is of large size, with two full banks of keys, is 
from the establishment of Messrs. Simmons and Mclntire, of Boston. 

In fine, it is believed that the whole structure, with all its appoint- 
ments and arrangements, in point of harmony and artistic propriety 
of style, of convenience, of general beauty, expressiveness and 
effect, is superior to any ecclesiastical edifice of equal cost that can 
be found, and that in many of its features it will stand the test of 
comparison with any ecclesiastical structure of any size or cost in the 
country. 

The cost of this place of worship, with the bell, organ, and furni- 
ture complete, was nearly seventeen thousand dollars. 



